Zoids: Renegade Shadow
by Loriena
Summary: Pleeease R n' R!!! (yes, I know this is getting long.) Bit and friends must once again fight to save Zi from that Zoid that just won't seem to go away: the Deathstinger. (B/L, H/OC, Br/N, etc.)
1. A Shadow Crept By

Zoids: Renegade Shadow  
  
"Nothing makes sense anymore..."  
  
Chapter I: A Shadow Crept By  
  
Dive into the mind.  
  
Robert Marron looked up at the sunset as to familiar moons faded into view. They were beautiful and had always been so since they first existed. There was only one problem... you weren't supposed to watch them alone...  
  
No, he told himself. Loneliness was an emotion and those were nonexistent. Or so said the Kaiser... Was he right? Even Akira and Neos were beginning to have doubts about their superior's sanity. Maybe Robert wasn't a Zoidian, but Kaiser insisted that nothing, even humans, had emotions. Especially not Zoids. Zoids weren't living creatures, they were only artificial intelligence. Did that apply to organoids and Zoidians, too? Then why did Robert find himself so attached to his Spino Snapper...  
  
He sighed. It wasn't Roberts business to be asking those questions. It was only his business to make sure the ten Chosen didn't find their way into Kaiser's domain. Doubts were inevitable, but so was the destruction of humanity on Zi. Wait! If Robert was human, and Kaiser was intent on destroying all existing humans, then why did he follow Kaiser with such sureness?!! Darn. Just another question to be put aside. They were piling up with surprising quickness.  
  
A Whale King could be seen above this vast rocky desert flying faster then any other known Whale King. The transport was apparently chasing a Storm Sworder. Why? Darn, another question. There was no way Robert was going to be able to find all the answers in his lifetime. Not only that, but the Whale King had deployed almost a score of Zabats to shoot at the Storm Sworder? Did they want to destroy it or capture it? Darn, too many questions. Was curiosity an emotion, too? Not another question... Robert hated questions. Especially those addressed to him, and unanswered ones.  
  
The Zabats finally succeeding in hitting their target. Smoke rose from the Storm Sworder's left wing as it slowly descended to crash in the desert. With that the Zabats flew back to their transporet and into its hangar as the Whale King circled around the area twice and then, not having spotted the crashed Storm Sworder, gave up and left.  
  
Robert was puzzled. Why couldn't they have spotted the Storm Sworder? Wrecked Zoids were surprisingly easy to find. Another darn question. He felt a surprisingly strong urge to swear with a more vulgar word than 'darn.'  
  
In the darkness a Shadow crept by.  
  
***  
  
Two years later...  
  
***  
  
"Strike Laser Claw!" A green Liger Zero X jumped at a Lightning Saix, severing its front leg off.  
  
"What?!" shouted the pilot of the Lightning Saix. "How did she-?!" He sighed and shook his head. "I never should have underestimated the power of someone out to get revenge..."  
  
"Jack!" Two more Lightning Saix' appeared around the corner of a cliff, and the Liger turned its head towards them.  
  
"Are you okay?" yelled Chris and Kelly together. Jack Sisco grinned as his Lightning Saix struggled to get up.  
  
"I'll be fine. Right, now let's get her once and for all!" His two friends nodded, and the three Lightning Saix' formed a triangle around the Liger Zero X.  
  
"No matter how brilliant your next plan is, you'll never beat me again, Jack." Static electricity formed around the Liger and shot out simultaneously at all three Zoids. They staggered as the Liger Zero X roared and backed up a few steps. The Lightning Saix' stopped working altogether and stoooped low to the ground. The LZX ran forward and jumped onto Chris' Zoid, tearing off the gun on top. Next, it head butted Kelly's Zoid into the side of the cliff.  
  
The Liger Zero X turned towards Jack's already half destroyed Zoid. "Ayumi Kroger..." muttered Jack. LZX took up a position with its front paw placed on top of the Lightning Saix' neck. "Let Chris and Kelly go."  
  
"Good try, but no." Ayumi smiled darkly and her ethnic earrings jingled as she yelled, "Strike Laser CLAW!!!"  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart.  
  
Leena drowsily plopped herself down on a sofa and turned on the television, switching to the news. She half watched and half slept for about half an hour when something caught her eye. Bit walked in and looked down at her. "You're looking very nice today," he said, referring to the bags under her eyes and her messy hair.  
  
Leena mumbled something in response and her eyes widened significantly. "DAD!!!"  
  
"Leena, Doc isn't here." Jamie walked into the room, looking puzzled. "He told me he was going to pick up a new Liger Zero X model kit."  
  
"D-dad..." Leena slowly pointed to the television, and the two turned their heads toward it.  
  
" -In other news, a Liger-type Zoid attacked a man at New Helic City this morning. Witnesses saw no apparent reason for this. Reportedly his name was Steve Toros, and as of now he remains in severe condition at a local hospital." A reporter was standing in front of the scene when they showed footage of the incident, from the point of view of a store security camera. Steve Toros was picking up a model kit of the Liger Zero X with a happy look on his face when suddenly a hole was shot in the roof of the store and plaster fell everywhere. After the dust cleared the camera went up to show a green Liger Zero X. Static electricity gathered around it and shot at the camera, disabling it.  
  
"Who would want to hurt Dad like that?" asked Leena, starting to cry. "I don't understand!"  
  
Bit sat down next to her. "Dr. Layon," murmured Jamie. "It was most likely Dr. Layon."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoid Eve.  
  
A Dark Horn ran across the desert, shooting down several Command Wolves at once. It moved in on a lone Gun Sniper and hesitated once before blowing its missile pods off. "Gotta remember, none of the pilots of these Gun Snipers are Leena!" the pilot reminded himself as he shot at two Hel Digunners.  
  
"Don't think you're going to get out of this that easily!" shouted someone as a gray Bear Fighter walked up behind it and shot several missiles at the Dark Horns armaments, disabling most of them. After that it shot at the Dark Horn with its laser cannon (whatever it's called), disabling the entire Zoid.  
  
"Argh, he hit my weak spot!" shouted the modified Dark Horn's pilot.  
  
"Ha! Now I can finish you off once and for all, so you can't interfere witho our illegal plans anymore!" The Dark Horn took several hits to the head, its pilot lurching forward and hitting his head on the computer screen.  
  
Suddenly the Bear Fighter was barraged from all directions as the word "Megalomax!" could be heard. "L-Leena?" asked the pilot of the Dark Horn weakly.  
  
The Zoid turned around to see a Dibison standing there, having just fired the shots. "You better hope you didn't damage any of my equipment!" shouted the Bear Fighter's pilot as it stood up on its hind legs, changing to Bear Fighting Mode (seriously, as stupid as it may sound, that's what its called. if you don't believe me, read the box to the Bear Fighter model kit).  
  
"Whatever," mumbled the Dibison's pilot as its mortar cannons all turned towards the Bear Fighter, preparing for another all-out assault. The Bear- type Zoid ran forward as fast as it could, and just as it reached the Dibison another Megalomax fired point blank. The Bear Fighter skidded backwards several meters, staggered, then fell over backwards.  
  
"Leena..." mumbled Harry Champ as he blacked out. "Thanks..."  
  
***  
  
This has been the first chapter of the sequel to "Zoids: Shadows of the Past." You might want to read it in order to understand some concepts and characters. I'm currently working on chapter two. ***KITAI MATSARU (however you spell it): Unfortunately, I might not be able to finish this sequel! Since you absolutely loved my last story I thought you might want to know that my parents might get rid of our internet, and then I probably won't be able to upload to fanfiction.net! Blame it all on my sister. I don't know all of the details, but all I know is that it's her fault. So sorry.  
  
I just hope I'll be able to upload things at our local library. Otherwise... Argh, now I feel like swearing! And I'm not exactly supposed to do that... So I won't. Gomen again.***  
  
Also... I decided not to write the Redwall story first, after all, in case you-know-what happens. Argh again. *sniffles* 


	2. Questions Without Answers

Zoids: Renegade Shadow  
  
"Love? I'm not in Love. Not quite yet."  
  
Chapter II: Questions Without Answers  
  
Read the spoiler summary for one of the last episodes in Zoids: Chaotic Century at Anime Admirer's... now I wish I hadn't, because (if you don't want to know what happens then don't read the rest of this note!) Thomas DOESN'T die... but someone else, whom we all like VERY, VERY MUCH, does.... However, I have a feeling that that person will be coming back in one of the other episodes, knowing that Shadow went back to Zoid Eve.  
  
***  
  
Hehe, another note, but this time no evil spoiler rants. Well, yes, but no telling what it said in the spoiler. I saved the page on my computer so I can look at the piccys over and over again, and read it multiple times. After reading it I almost started to cry, but I didn't want to look like a weirdo in front of my family (I did cry, however, in other episodes, and when this one airs, if I see it, I WILL CRY NO MATTER WHAT. TRUST ME, YOU WILL TOO. (If you're emotionally attached to the show, like I am!) So I sat there reading it over and over again, eating many purple grapes, and listening to sad sounding songs in Japanese over and over again. Yum. Story time, so I can finish as much of this as possible before you-know- what happens. Now I'm listening to "Wildflower," the Zoids: chaotic Century theme... Right, NOW I'm crying. Someone needs to make a music video to that song - or "Star Stealing Girl" from Chrono Cross-to remember that-certain-someone by. Though I think they're NOT really dead.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
Van Fleiheit, thought Harry Champ. The hero from way back when, the guy who helped destroy the Death Stinger. Fiona Alissi Lynett, the ancient Zoidian who helped to find those of her race and create the Zoidian Guild to help all of the citizens of Zi. Bit Cloud, great Zoid warrior and the pilot of an Ultimate X. Harry Champ, senior, who created the Champ Corporation and brought respect to his name. Thomas Richard Schubaltz, who died in the act of helping to save Zi. Irvine, mercenary gone good. Moonbay, the loyal transporter who left behind her cargo but once to save her friends.  
  
All of these people had left behind a legacy; but had Harry? Of course he had! Harry Champ, the man destined to be King. More like Harry Champ, the man destined to be dead. The leader of the worst Zoid team in history. The man no girl finds attractive. That rich, spoiled kid...  
  
...who had changed significantly over the last two years. Into what? A more respectable, mature, handsome man. Two years of military academy with the ZBC had helped Harry a lot. No one knew that Harry had gone there, of course; not even his sister Mary. He hadn't even told his lifelong crush and obsession, Leena Toros! What kind of a guy was he, leaving his friends behind, not telling them anything?!! But the fact was, he didn't have any friends. Except for the robots Benjamin and Sebastian, but they would be perfectly happy with Mary. Sometimes Harry wished he had stayed at his home, kept to obsessing over "his girl." But then he remembered: Leena loved Bit.  
  
Harry Champ had nothing left to live for. He had learned almost everything he had ever wanted to know about in the past two years. Only one question was left in his head, keeping it from being vacant of inquiries. The question that Harry had been asking for the past two years but had yet to find the answer. He already knew how true love felt. He knew that Leena would never love him. He knew that no one could ever love a guy like him. The only question left was simple, so why hadn't he ever figured it out?  
  
His question: who is Kylie Cloud?  
  
Dive into Zi... Find out what makes it tick. Find out what makes Zoidians so different from humans. Find out where humans originally came from. Find out what a Zoid really is. Are they living creatures? or artificial intelligence? or have you already found the answer to that?  
  
Harry forced himself to stop wandering in his mind and focus on the present situation, as he had been taught to do in the Academy. He sat up to see through the semi-darkness that he had been unconscious next to his Dark Horn for who knows how long. But how had he gotten out of that Zoid? What about the gash in his head? Harry tried to scratch his head in confusion, but to no avail. There was a bandage tied around his head, probably to prevent it from bleeding anymore. Had Harry done that to himself by instinct in his sleep?!!  
  
Maybe he had spent two years at the academy, but he hadn't grown all that much smarter when it came to common sense. Let's face it, Harry, he told himself. You're not very bright.  
  
He looked around some more and saw a Dibison standing next to his modified Zoid. Harry walked over to it. The Zoid looked a lot like Leena's old one, though it had been reduced almost to scrap. It could be Leena's! Harry told himself. Her Gun Sniper had been destroyed beyond help, so why not? Why not hope for something that you know will never come true?  
  
The eighteen-year old climbed up into the cockpit and activated it, looking for the registration number. There it was: Z-93586 (don't know how long the registration number is! I mean, I know all the EZ-04 stuff, but that's not a registration number, it's the number in which the Zoids were created for the Empire/Republic). Wasn't that Leena's old Dibison's registration number? Harry asked himself. Besides, this registration number expired a year ago! As a lieutenant in the ZBC, it was Harry's duty to find the owner of this Zoid and bring them to justice! They needed to renew their registration number, like a driving license! Even if they probably had saved Harry's little life, though he wouldn't have minded very much if they had simply let him die.  
  
Harry heard footsteps and looked up, only to be whacked upside the head by a hefty hoverboard and to have a gun drawn to his head. "Just WHAT do you think you're doing in the cockpit of my Zoid?!!" asked someone, probably the person who was holding a gun to his head.  
  
"Hey, babe, go easy on the head!" answered Harry. Babe. Flattery would work well; it always did. The owner of the voice SOUNDED like a girl. If it was a boy, Harry was definitely dead.  
  
"BABE?!!" shouted the girl. "Just who do you think you are, Harry Champ or something?!!"  
  
"Actually, I think I'm a Lieutenant for the Zoid Battle Commission, so if you would please put that gun someplace safe..."  
  
"Tell me your name first."  
  
"Harry Champ. Yours?"  
  
"K- Harry Champ?!! And why should I be telling you my name?"  
  
"Because I told you mine."  
  
"Just shut up and get out of the cockpit." Harry jumped down and turned to look up at who had put a gun to his head. He didn't feel very safe near a psycho.  
  
The girl had curly, long blond hair and sad green eyes (by now you should know who she is!!! yay!! I just can't seem to keep ANYONE dead in these stories!!! ahhh!!! but you must remember, I never said she was dead in the first place... oooh...). In one hand she was carrying a hoverboard; in the other a stick, which she threw at him. Harry caught it and sweat-dropped. "You were threatening me with a STICK?!!"  
  
"Why not?" She shrugged. "I never threatened you in the first place, anyways."  
  
It thundered and started to rain. "Right, well, I might as well leave now. Thanks for your help against those bandits, I guess," said Harry, thinking. Lightning cracked (uhh.... lightning cracks, right? i'm not sure...) close by. As he climbed up into his modified Dark Horn the girl's mood changed completely.  
  
"Wait!" she shouted, running up to him. Harry turned around wearily and sighed. "Girls just can't resist me," he joked to himself.  
  
"D- don't leave me out here alone in this storm..." began the girl.  
  
"Uh..." Harry didn't know what to say. He needed to get back to the base, but he hadn't accomplished his mission... However, if he made an arrest of SOMEONE, even if it wasn't the bandits, he could get by. That was the price of being a lieutenant; you were expected to do your job, however long it took. "Okay, then... I know! Your under arrest for possession of a possibly stolen and definitely unregistered Zoid!"  
  
"Pardon?" asked the girl. Harry sighed again and said, "If you really want me to stay with you, then I'll have to arrest you." He wearily clipped some handcuffs (which had been stored in his Zoid's cockpit) on her hands and she looked at them nervously.  
  
"Do these things attract/conduct electricity?"  
  
***  
  
Note: I have to add a sad section now.... because I'm in a sad mode...  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Kokoro!" shouted Robert Marron as he remembered the first day he had met her.  
  
*Robert climbed into his Spino Snapper and took off in the direction the Storm Sworder had been going when it crashed. Not very long afterwards his Zoid approached the wreck of the flying Zoid. Looking it over, he realized that this was a black Storm Sworder, capable of using stealth mode. No wonder the Whale King hadn't been able to find it! The Zoid had been using stealth mode for the time! And then, after it had crashed, the mode must have stopped working...  
  
"Is anyone in there?" he asked, trying to heave open the cockpit. It didn't work, but he thought he saw two people in it. One of the two reached out with her hand, and ever so slowly, pressed the button to open the cockpit. With that she slumped back in the seat. "Hey! Don't die, either of you!" shouted Robert. Maybe he didn't know them, but did that matter? No. They were people, just like him.  
  
He moved to a man, in the front seat, who looked much older than the girl and was wearing clothes like a scientist's. Robert checked for a pulse, but couldn't feel one. He then moved on to check the girl for a pulse; again, he couldn't feel one. Robert swore for not being quick enough to save either. He had wasted time, and as a result two people, two human beings just like himself, had died. He didn't know who they had been or what they would have been like, but still... they were people... didn't Robert have a heart?!! To just LET innocent people die like that?!! Was he just like the three Zoidians and Kaiser himself?!! (argh, I've started to cry over you-don't-know-who again) More questions. But these things going on inside his head- they were... feelings. . Some of the first very strong ones he had ever felt. Both happy and sad at the same time, usually immovable Robert started...  
  
...to cry. Not very much, but it was crying all the same. He'd never really done hat before, even when times had been really tough, or he had been hurt severely. All these new feelings were beginning to become overwhelming...  
  
"Don't.... cry..." said a voice.  
  
"Wha-?!" exclaimed Robert, looking around.  
  
"Don't..." The sixteen-year-old looked down to see the girl weakly smiling at him. But she hadn't had a pulse! How could she still be alive?!! More questions... But no answers...  
  
She slowly closed her eyes, and Robert felt for a pulse again. There still wasn't one. So was she alive, unconscious, or what? "Please... stop it... that tickles."  
  
Robert sweat-dropped at the remark and slowly a smile grew on his face. He WAS capable of smiling, of helping other people, all those things... And she couldn't be dead, if she was talking. Or could she? Was his mind just playing tricks on him?  
  
Through his unusual tears Robert laughed a little, and then remembered the man in front of her. Was he alive, too? Robert unbuckled the restraints on both of them, and lifted the scientist guy out of the somewhat mangled cockpit, laying him on the ground. Next he gingerly did the same to the girl, when he noticed a small piece of paper laying on the floor of the cockpit.  
  
Robert picked it up and unfolded it. Hurriedly scrawled with a pen were a few sentences:  
  
"Dear Someone,  
  
Her name is Kokoro. Please take good care of her. If you wait the truth will eventually reveal itself. Good luck and keep her safe from the Backdraft!  
  
-With Regards from Dr. Scott Altiel"  
  
"What..." Robert asked himself. How very strange. It seemed that this scientist knew that "Kokoro" would survive, the crash, but that he himself wouldn't. How incredibly strange. Dr. Scott Altiel? What a familiar name... Was he related to Commander Craig Altiel from the Backdraft, or was this just a very strange coincidence? Ah well. As it said on the note, "If you wait the truth will reveal itself."*  
  
The truth hadn't revealed itself. Not quite yet.  
  
"Leave her alone!" shouted Robert to the three Zoidians before him Hitoshi merely stood in the background with his red organoid, Kurai, watching as the other two completed their task. An unconscious Kokoro was being held by Neos as Akira did the talking. But Hitoshi wasn't participating in the fun. With her long brown hair and innocent blue eyes, Kokoro reminded him of someone. Who? No one knew except for Hitoshi himself. His background was a secret when compared to the two others. They didn't HAVE backgrounds, except what Neos had done to Van Flyheight many, many years ago, if you could call that a background. Hitoshi, on the other hand, did. And it was very personal. (HA! I thought I would never give THIS idiot character development, but I have started to! As you can tell... I don't like him. But oh, I will warm up to him nicely when I introduce yet another character. If I have the internet then.)  
  
"If you ever want to see your friend again you will go kill the ten Chosen." Akira almost smiled, for who knows why. It seemed that she enjoyed making humans miserable just as much as Neos did. "And until you do that, Kokoro's death is, well, inevitable."  
  
"You wouldn't-" started Robert, but he stopped himself. Yes, they would. And if they didn't the Kaiser would definitely do it for them, and with pleasure. "Fine. But I thought Ayumi was already working on that!"  
  
"Kaiser can't trust her."  
  
"He can't trust me, either, not anymore."  
  
"But he can trust you more than he can trust Ayumi."  
  
***  
  
Leena sat in the waiting room at the New Helic City hospital. The wait was unbearable. She desperately wanted to see how her father was doing. All her thoughts focused on the way Mrs. Toros had died. Losing her mother had been horrible, but to lose both parents? As Bit had? At least Leon wouldn't die, too. Her brother sat beside her, staring at the wall. That was all he could do.  
  
But Bit. He had lost his mother, then his father, and then his sister. Then he had found Kylie, but then he had lost her again. It must have been even worse for Bit. He had no one to turn to for five years, until he met the rest of the Blitz team. Talking to Liger must have let his feelings out a little bit, but when he had discovered that Kylie Maria Cloud was still alive, it all came out at once. Anger, love, disbelief, and a thousand more emotions.  
  
Losing someone twice. Now THAT was unbearable.  
  
Suddenly someone burst through the doors and ran down the hall. Who is that? thought Leena. The person stopped directly in front of Leena and said, "Leena! Where's Elen?!!! Where is he?!!!"  
  
"Wha-?!" started Leena. She looked the young girl straight in the face. Of course! "Spring?" asked Leena. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be with Ptolemy at the Guild?"  
  
Spring looked like she was about to cry. "Where is Elen? I need to talk to him! Please tell me where Bit is! This is very important... I... Sensitivity to things like this sucks..." she mutterd as she collapsed into Leena's arms.  
  
"Leena, what's going on?" asked Leon.  
  
"I'm not sure, Leon, but we have to find Bit. I know he's somewhere in this city."  
  
***  
  
Must end it here so I can upload it before we get rid of the internet. Bwahaha... Spring is back 'cause I like her so much! Or, as sometimes I call her, Ehtel and an "e" with two dots above it. The spoiler for the Chaotic Centtury episode is at Anime Admirer's Chaotic Century site. I don't advise you to read it; If I were you, I'd wait, even though I couldn't control myself. NO! Kokoro! Hehehe.... Bit isn't the only Chosen, as I call them. Guess the others if you feel like it. Must stopp writing and UPLOAD before I can't anymore! 


	3. Where the Past and Present Meet

Chapter III: Where the Past and Present Meet  
  
Let's have some humorous stuff, maybe.... hopefully..... after a quick stupid flashback.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
*"Where... am I?" the girl asked herself, looking around (my characters look around a lot!). She stood up. She knew where she was- she had been here once before. Back when she had remembered nothing of her past, back when she had no idea that the Backdraft was her enemy, not her only ally. Back when Shadow had been nothing but a remnant of the Berserk Fury, waiting for his master to return. Not the Dark Kaiser, not the Shadow Kaiser, either, but his one and only master; Raven. That, of course, was not possible. But he could find the Kaiser, and then, with his help, he could find a descendant of Raven's...  
  
...Vega. It was fairly confusing, but, all in all, that was Shadow's real goal. That and the destruction of all humanity on Zi. Except for his true masters. Many people had heard Raven's story; they thought it was ironic, how Shadow had killed Raven's parents and then became his best friend. But the truth was, Shadow hadn't done that. It was none other than Ambient, Hiltz's red organoid. The black organoid couldn't help feeling a bit angry. And neither could a certain human organoid, who stood in the middle of this familiar green field, where the present meets the past. A time and space continuum? No, just a place where the past is... remembered. Where all the shadows remain. Where, in reality, those who are Shadows really ARE. On Zi they look like ghosts, maybe, but here, they're... real. If that's still possible.  
  
The girl looked up. So who was she really... Nanase, or Kylie Cloud? Was it possible that she could be both at the same time, or would she be Nanase forever, the girl who knew nothing of her past, the girl who didn't really care about what was right and what was wrong. Or she could be Kylie, an innocent girl who just wanted to change the past. Because she could have saved her father, could have saved her mother, she could have saved all o the people in the Wind Colony! If only she had known back then... If only...  
  
And there, standing in front of her, was a very familiar person. Another girl, with blonde hair in an awkward ponytail and beautiful red eyes, about eighteen years old with the blue circles (something like that) on her forehead. Fiona... Fiona Alissi Lynett.  
  
Fiona smiled, and Kylie remembered the old stories she had been told, of how the Deathstinger had been destroyed, of how Thomas Richard Schubaltz almost died, and so on. (Oh no! Not a spoiler! I can't tell you what happens, in case you want to wait! Argh!) But then how could Fiona be here? Because she was a Zoidian. (This part's not a spoiler; I made it up, but I predict it does have something to do with the last four episodes) And Zoidians never really die, they just... come back to Zoid Eve. And sometimes they decide to stay there. Other times they decide to go back to loved ones, and other times, they become Shadows. Even less often they simply fade away when their destiny is fulfilled. Whatever fate they choose, they always come back to Zoid Eve, whether to die, disappear, or whatever. Fiona chose to go back to Van Flyheight and her friends. Shortly after this she had formed the Zoidian Guild. Her destiny had been fulfilled, but she decided to simply create her own destiny, and go her own way, not paying attention to the rules.  
  
Things like that tended to get confusing. After Van died, she had nothing left to live for. Their kid, maybe, but Auron (HA! A Final Fantasy name) no longer needed her. He had his own destiny to fulfill.  
  
Destiny... What was Nanase's destiny, anyways?*  
  
"I said, no, I don't think so," repeated Harry, answering Nanase's question.  
  
"Good, 'cause I REALLY wouldn't like to be hit by lightning," smiled Nanase. Just then lightning cracked (still don't know that term!) again and she anime-jumped out of the way with a terrified look on her face.  
  
"I guess I should take those off of you..." said Harry, grabbing for his keys. Immediately lightning started to shoot down to where he was standing. Harry tried to anime-jump into Nanase's arms, but with the handcuffs on, she didn't catch him. She wouldn't have caught him, anyways.  
  
The two shot off to their Zoids, chased by lightning all the way (I'm so evil to my characters). "Zi doesn't like us very much, does it?" said Harry. Nanase yelled something back but thunder prevented Harry from hearing her. Suddenly Harry noticed that Nanase had stopped running. What was she, an idiot or something?  
  
"This- this isn't real lightning, it's artificial!" yelled Nanase.  
  
"Huh?" asked Harry. Then he remembered a fight between the Blitz team and the Tigers team, where Dr. Layon had used the team to try to get his revenge on Dr. Toros. He had put something on one of the Zaber Fangs that had created an artificial thunderstorm and a hurricane-ish thing.... "Oh no... This is not good."  
  
"You're right about that! Now will you get these things off of me?!!"  
  
Harry sweat-dropped and fumbled with his keys, running over to Nanase as lightning shot behind him (hehe. poor Harry and friends. Lightning... that makes me laugh. somewhat). "By the way, what's your name?" he asked, trying to make light of the situation.  
  
"Ky- I mean, Nanase," replied the girl. The bonds of sea and fire were only beginning to grow. (Loriena is a weirdo!)  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Hey, Spring, wake up!" said Bit, looking down at his little friend.  
  
"Wha-?!" shouted Spring, sitting up. She looked at Bit with big black eyes. "Oh! Elen! There you are! I'm so glad I found you!" Spring hugged Bit, who laughed nervously.  
  
"Right, so what did you want?"  
  
"I... you've heard the old stories, right? About Van Flyheight and Fiona?" asked Spring.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"And you know about the Death Stinger?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"It's coming, Bit! It's coming back and no one can stop it!" shouted Spring. She started to cry hysterically. Bit eyes Leena, raising an eyebrow. She shrugged.  
  
"Spring, listen to me," put in Leon. "The Death Stinger was destroyed a long, long time ago by Van Flyheight. Twice. It's gone forever. There's no way it could come back-"  
  
"That's where you're wrong." Spring started to calm down a little bit. "Technology can do anything. The Death Stinger's tail was attached to a Whale King that the Backdraft was using during the Royal Cup. Other than that, there are no remains. But with the DNA from the tail, the Death Stinger can be brought back, and someone is going to try to do it. SOON. I can feel it, because I'm a Zoidian..."  
  
"But- Zoids aren't living things!" protested Bit. "They don't have DNA!"  
  
"Your sister is a living thing, Bit," contradicted Spring. "And she's pretty much a Zoid."  
  
"Just- just shut up, Spring, please shut up."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoid Eve.  
  
"Hurry up!" shouted Nanase as Harry unlocked her handcuffs and clipped them back on to his belt. She smiled in relief when suddenly she saw something. But the thing was, it hadn't happened yet. It was about to happen. "H- Harry?!!" she said, staring into space. Before Harry could say anything she transformed into a whitish-blue light (HA! organoid time!) and flew straight at him, knocking Harry out of the way. Two seconds later the artificial lightning struck where he had been, and Nanase returned to normal.  
  
"What the-?" shouted Harry. "What are you?!!"  
  
*"Fiona," started Kylie, "What... what am I?"  
  
"You're a person, Kylie," replied Fiona, still smiling. "You're a person, like me. You may not be a Zoidian, but you're... attached to Zoids. You're sensitive to them, like Zoidians. Kylie, you're a human organoid, but that doesn't make you any different from others. Deep down inside you're like everyone else!"  
  
"Yeah," muttered Kylie. "Deep down inside I'm filled with hatred and anger, just like everyone else."  
  
Fiona's smiled left her face and in turn Kylie saw sympathy instead. Sympathy for this girl who was just like Adrian Donovan; who of course had killed (many!) others. Of course she was just the same as all of the Backdraft officials. There wasn't any difference between her and Commander Altiel. They were all just idiots who cared about no one but themselves.  
  
"You're a human organoid. A Zoid," repeated Fiona.  
  
"Zoids aren't living creatures, and neither am I," answered Kylie. Somewhere out there, there was someone who could, and would, change her mind. Someone.... someone would help her. And it wouldn't be Fiona. The Zoidian was helpless in this situation. All she could do was offer meager support. For now, she'd just have to leave her descendant alone. Maybe she wasn't a Zoidian, but if she wasn't, then why had she come back to Zoid Eve? She was still so young...  
  
...of course. It was destiny that she should go back. But, if she did, then people's lives would be in danger. It wouldn't be Kylie's fault; it was inevitable. The Death Stinger was waiting for a pilot, but it wouldn't be Kylie. She was just a pawn, made to bring it back. And that was what she would do. You can't always change your fate.  
  
***  
  
I am incredibly repetitive and evil to my characters, aren't I?!! Anyways... That is the end of weird Chapter III. So there IS a reason that I gave it a sci-fi genre! Somehow I always manage to have something about the Death Stinger. Always.  
  
***Kitai, Damion, and all other reviewers of my stories: Well.... it's official. Argh. The internet goes bye-bye starting Monday. It's not my fault! Argh! However, be happy, because my brother might be able to get his own internet service, having turned eighteen yesterday, and if he does he'll probably let me use it sometimes. Also, I'll see if I can upload stuff at the library, and I'll keep writing, so if I can upload it there, you'll get nice big chunks every once in a while. YAY!!! And at the same time, argh.*** 


	4. The Gul Tiger

Chapter IV: The Gul Tiger  
  
Unfortunately, Damion, I probably won't be able to talk my parents out of it. Nice suggestion though. Also.... the cable goes on Wednesday. My parents have been thinking about getting rid of it for a while now, so they thought, "Hey! Why not get rid of both things at once?" A good thing, we have to keep AOL for the rest of the month... yay. And argh at the same time. The only hting ZOIDS taht willl still be in my life is the model kits (speaking of which, I got a Raynos yesterday at Walmart. Doesn't walk very well, but still... cool.) and a once every two weeks trip to the library. Also, since my brother is so nice he'll probably get the DVD with the last four episodes of Chaotic Century if it ever comes out... And I can still watch Malcolm in the Middle, at least. Woohoo. Remind me to get a Gameboy ROM- besides Pokemon- while I still can...  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
A tiger-type Zoid ran across the desert, weaving back and forth out of pure boredom. It was yellow, orange, and black with gray caps and a fairly thick and long black tail.  
  
I'm such an idiot, thought its pilot. I don't know anything about women!  
  
The Zoid's red eyes glowed as it skidded to a halt and starting shooting at a large boulder with a beam gun. Much-needed target practice.  
  
*"Hey, Sylv! Could you throw me that wrench thing?" shouted Sephiroth Adrian Donovan, looking over the edge of his new Gul Tiger.  
  
"For the last time, Adrian, STOP CALLING ME SYLVIA!!!" shouted his assistant, throwing up the wrench. It didn't make it up all the way; Sephiroth grabbed for it and lost his balance.  
  
"I know," she continued, "You miss her a lot and my name sounds like Sylvia. But PLEASE!!! It's so darn annoying!"  
  
Unfortunately for Sephiroth he tottered on the edge of his new Zoid and fell off; but thankfully, he was able to grab the edge of it. "Vivian?" he asked helplessly, hanging from the edge of his Gul Tiger. "I don't really want to drop eight meters to the ground! A little help, please?!!"  
  
Vivian laughed and shook her head, blue eyes looking very amused. She simply walked out of the little hangar, still laughing at Sephiroth.  
  
"VIVIAN!!!" shouted Sephiroth. "Come back! Please?"  
  
No response.*  
  
"You know what?" Sephiroth asked his Zoid. "I think I need to get a life." It roared.  
  
The Gul Tiger jumped on top of the boulder and looked forward. There it was; New Helic City, his destination, across a deep gap in the terrain. Sephiroth had no where better to go. Life wasn't going very well. He had decided to go to the ZBC's office their, as it was the closest to Sephiroth's hangar, and quit his job of developing new weapons for them. Somehow he missed fighting Zoid battles, and he was getting a little rusty. The Gul Tiger roared, and Sephiroth smiled fondly at his X. Yes, his X. Not his Ultimate X. If it had been like in the old days he would have called it an Ultimate X, but there was only one Ultimate X: Bit Cloud's Liger Zero X. All other Zoids were either X's or just normal Zoids.  
  
"Sephiroth! There you are!" shouted a voice. Sephiroth recognized it immediately.  
  
"Once again, Viv, I'm sorry for accidentally calling you Sylvia; and I might as well take you out to dinner or something to make up for it," answered Sephiroth as the Gul Tiger turned around to look at Vivian's Zoid. "Though I STILL don't understand why it's such a big deal."  
  
Unfortunately for Sephiroth- he was having a very, very bad day- the Tiger's front paw slipped while turning around, and the Gul Tiger started to fall down the chasm. Vivian's red and black Zoid ran forward and grabbed onto the Gul Tiger's tail by its mouth. She laughed as she lugged the Gul Tiger back up. "Are you okay?"  
  
Sephiroth didn't answer. His face was frozen with a look of shock, fright, and nervousness.  
  
***  
  
Poor Sephy.... I mean, Sephiroth. Adrian. Whatever he goes by. I'm so mean to him! Oh well, no more rants today! must write as much as I can before the internet goes out the window! This is the end of the chapter... because I say so... and because I want to upload it. Nicely short. Next one will be longer. I will spend every moment I can this month trying to finish this!!!!! Hopefully!!! The Gul Tiger and Vivian's Zoid were both found on a Japanese Zoids site, http://www.zoidshokanko.com/ 


	5. Ambushed

Chapter V: Ambushed "If you think you're still safe, then you're wrong..."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
*"Has anyone ever told you that you look distinctly like old Lord Prozen did?"  
  
A white-haired boy looked up into the eyes of someone his own age. She had short golden-brown hair pulled back in a headband with much longer bangs and shared his same silver eyes. "Y- What's it to you..." he muttered. What a stupid question! Of course he looked like Lord Prozen! He was supposed to. Kind of. Some people still believed that Prozen should have become Emperor instead of Rudolph; that Van Flyheight and his friends were fakes. But they hadn't heard the second half of the story. The part about how the Dark Kaiser had a successor (uh... was that a spoiler? I hope not). Not a son, but someone else. Another Kaiser. The Kage Kaiser, the Shadow Kaiser. The Shadow Emperor, Lord of Shadows, controller of so many happenings on Zi. Maker of the Berserk Fury. The man who should have been the real brains behind the Backdraft, since, after all, he had helped to create it. Could he help it if he happened to know that guy?  
  
"I was just wondering." The girl giggled slightly in amusement, much to his annoyance. "So... what's your name?"  
  
"Hitoshi..."*  
  
"Snap out of it and get over here, Hitoshi!" shouted Akira, glaring.  
  
"Sure..." Hitoshi stood up and walked over to her, sitting back down with his legs hanging over the edge of the abyss as Akira handed him the goggles. "Has it started yet? Can we trust him?"  
  
"We don't know that yet," scoffed Neos, keeping a look out for a fourth Zoid. "Your normal mood has changed quite a bit. Something on your mind?"  
  
"I don't see how you could possibly care."  
  
"How silly of me; you're right, I don't."  
  
"Is it too late to join the fun?" asked another voice. It was... so familiar. And so unfamiliar at the same time! ...could it be?  
  
"Faye?!!" shouted Hitoshi, turning around so fast that he almost fell down the trench. He was now facing the ever-changing Ayumi, a ginger-haired terror.  
  
"What the-?!!" asked Ayumi. "Who on Zi is Faye?!"  
  
"I- never said that." Fortunately for Hitoshi he was somewhat like Ryss, from back before the Death Saurer had almost wiped out the Zoidian race. He had met her back then, and even though they were quite young he found himself wishing that he had the same kinetic powers. And it turned out that, well, he did. They were a little weaker than hers, but fairly similar. At least they worked on other Zoidians.  
  
"What were we saying?" Ayumi frowned in confusion.  
  
"Nothing," said Hitoshi, fighting to keep himself smiling from success. "Nothing."  
  
"Anyways, I'm taking the Puffer, or whatever you want to call that darn Zoid, back to Kaiser. He wants me to do something for him. He said something about our little lover-boy's girl... that Kokoro." Akira stood back up and walked over to a massive sphere of a Zoid that sat in a special landing pod. "You know where to find me- if you need help."  
  
"And we won't," Neos assured her, glaring. "Why would we need YOUR help?"  
  
"Because I'm stronger than both of you put together when it comes to Zoid piloting, and you know it." Neos didn't see the satisfied smile on Akira's face. Her back was to him as a panel on the sphere opened and she stepped inside of it. Akira sighed happily and two boosters came out of panels on the bottom of the sphere, jettisoning it into the sky.  
  
***  
  
"Ahh! Pullmeup pullmeup pullmeup!!!" shouted Sephiroth, very much in distress. Vivian complied and her Lightning Saix-like Zoid gave a heave to pull the Gul Tiger back onto solid ground. Directly afterwards a black Storm Sworder, by the looks of it in need of a lot of maintenance, flew up out of the chasm. Sephiroth sighed in relief. "That was extremely close, wasn't it?"  
  
"CHAO (not shouting; always in capital letters, like BEAK)," said Vivian, referring to her artificial intelligence program that was installed in her Zoid, "What's that Storm Sworder's registration number?" A few beeps and blips and Vivian nodded. "Sephiroth, that's a Backdraft Zoid..."  
  
Sephiroth had a blank look on his face as the Gul Tiger turned around to watch the Zoid barrel-roll away. Immediately it turned around and activated the two blades hidden in its wings.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Listen, Harry..." coaxed Nanase, watching her newfound friend climb into his modified Dark Horn. Lightning cracked/flashed nearby again. "I don't KNOW what I am... I..."  
  
"Nanase, I don't know what you are either." Harry turned to stare at her. "But right now I'm officially freaked out. It's like..."  
  
"...I'm an organoid," finished Nanase. "It's like I'm an organoid or something."  
  
"Don't get me wrong, I still think you're pretty and all," said Harry. "But- I mean- that's just UNNATURAL."  
  
"This is Zi, Harry," replied Nanase. "Here, nothing's unnatural. Back on Earth..."  
  
"Earth?" asked Harry nervously. "Where's "Earth?" Isn't that just, like, ground? Dirt?!!"  
  
"I- don't really know... It just... popped into my head..."  
  
Harry sighed and shook his head, sitting down in the cockpit of his Zoid. "I know I really shouldn't judge people right after I meet them, but I don't think I should stick around any longer before I learn anything else that'll pull me into your story. I hope you understand. I don't want to be involved with something like this."  
  
Oh, I understand, thought Nanase. Sure. You don't think you should "stick around any longer?" Maybe I'm not completely human, but... "I'm a person too, you know!" she shouted after him. Lightning flashed between her and the Dibison and she cringed. Maybe she should've FORCED him to stick around. Lightning and Zoids didn't mix well. Come to think of it, why was she feeling so strongly about him when they had just met? It was strange, these feelings. She was amazed that he had stayed as long as he had. And the way he had spoken to her.. He thought she was PRETTY... The fact that someone thought about her like that was fascinating.  
  
Soon the Dark Horn was out of sight. Nanase looked back at her newly revived Zoid and thought of Leena and Bit. This was Leena's Zoid. Nanase had found it in a junkyard and revived it for lack of having nothing better to do at the time. It had proved very suitable for her. After all she had been through, she had chosen to use the former Zoid of someone she knew fairly well? Couldn't she find some way to forget everything? To forget about Zoid Eve, Cid Marron, the black Geno Saurer, and Liger? How could she possibly forget about Liger...? As if it wasn't enough to know that you could have saved both of your parents... That you should have died seven years ago but you didn't... That you could have stopped all of this from happening...? If only you had known, then none of this senseless destruction would have been necessary.  
  
"I always thought that it was the Backdraft's fault," she said to herself. "But it's not. It's mine. And now I'm alone... again..." She knew that his wasn't exactly true. If she wanted she could always find Bit, her brother, but what could they say? Bit had lost her twice now. She had lost him twice, as well, and the second time her life was changed.  
  
Nanase stared at the horizon in the direction the Dark Horn had went in silence, thinking. What was the point of living if one person who cares about you doesn't even know you're alive? Make that two people. Someone had saved her from the black Geno Saurer's fire, and that someone must care about her...  
  
... or so she hoped... She couldn't know for sure.  
  
This hope was all that kept her hanging on.  
  
***  
  
"This," said Sephiroth Adrian Donovan, "Is definitely not good."  
  
"Bad day?" asked Vivian, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Yes. Very much so."  
  
***  
  
Who is Kylie Cloud? Harry asked himself as he piloted the Dark Horn back towards New Helic City. The moment he had heard that name he had known that there was something special about Kylie, whoever she was. Maybe she was like Nanase. But if Harry had decided he didn't want to learn more about Nanase, he wouldn't want to learn more about Kylie? That wasn't true.  
  
After all, Nanase had said that she was a person, just like Harry was. Waiting for someone to find her. Nanase was a flower who simply hadn't bloomed yet... And Harry was a jerk. A big fat jerk. Who did he think he was, anyways? Harry Champ? Wait, he was Harry Champ. But he was a different Harry Champ than he had used to be. He was much more mature. And he was going to go back and help Nanase out with whatever she needed.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoid Eve.  
  
Leena sighed and looked over to Spring, who had fallen asleep on the Hover Cargo's one and only couch (ha, a couch). The Death Stinger was coming? That was impossible. It had been destroyed years ago by Van Flyheight. The look on Spring's face had been so real that Leena couldn't help wondering if she was right. She WAS a Zoidian and Zoidians knew about things like this.  
  
Then why didn't they know if Kylie Cloud was still out there? Bit had gone through so much misery and so much pain coping with losing his sister for the second time... No one in the Zoidian Guild had known anything concerning her whereabouts. Either that or they were all lying. Why would they lie, anyways?  
  
"Zoid Eve..." mumbled Spring in her sleep. She turned over, falling off the couch and onto the floor. Leena smiled. Nothing could wake that kid up. Come to think of it, how old was she, anyways?!!  
  
"Hard to think that Spring just turned sixteen years old," murmured Bit, entering the room and answering Leena's question. "So innocent... Jamie's that age, aren't you, Jamie?" he asked.  
  
Jamie was sitting at the controls with a nervous look on his face. "I CAN handle it! I don't need the Doc to help me pilot this thing!"  
  
"You sound very confident," remarked Brad from down the hall. "If you can't do it we'll just take the Zoids..."  
  
"I can do this!" Jamie reassured him, if you could call it that. "We don't need to ask the Doc anything!"  
  
"Jamie, Dad is still in a coma," said Leena quietly. Jamie bit his lip in frustration. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that," he whispered to himself.  
  
"What's wrong with saying that?" asked Spring, popping up beside him.  
  
"Ahh! where'd you come from?!! DON'T DO THAT!!!" shouted Jamie, letting go of the Hover Cargo controls. The Hover Cargo fell over onto its side.  
  
'I never thought this thing was so hard to control," muttered Leena.  
  
"Hey Jamie," asked Spring, trying to change the subject, "Why is Brad on the Hover Cargo? Isn't he on the Fluegel team now? Or whatever the team's called?"  
  
"I can fix this! I know I can!" shouted Jamie. The others sweat-dropped. He eased the control joystick thingies to the right and the Hover Cargo slowly up righted itself (don't ask me how, ask Jamie. I don't know how it's possible).  
  
"See?" said Leena, smiling with her eyes closed. "I told you not to worry,"  
  
This time it was Jamie's turn to sweat-drop. "Uhh... no, you didn't."  
  
"Of course I did!!!" shouted Leena. She began to chase him around the cockpit. Spring sat down in Jamie's place and maneuvered the Hover Cargo around an extremely large boulder.  
  
***  
  
Wake up and smell the roses, Robert. I'm not ordinary and you know it. But you're hiding something... The fact that I don't know anything about myself and you don't, either, is a little suspicious. Can't you tell that I want to know who I am? Am I Kokoro, or somebody else?  
  
"Are you gonna sit there forever or are you going to answer me?" The taunting sound of Akira's voice interrupted Kokoro's thoughts. "I don't have all day, you know."  
  
"How long do you have, then?" asked Kokoro, stalling for time.  
  
"Argh!" shouted Akira in frustration. "I'm the one who's supposed to be asking questions!"  
  
"Your Zoid is really fast, don't you think?"  
  
"Come to think of it, much faster than either Neos' Orudios or Hitoshi's stronger version of Ms. Champ's Zoid- Are you trying to change the subject?!!"  
  
"Ms. Champ?"  
  
"Eira Champ, deceased- Hey!!!"  
  
"Name: Eira Champ. Rank: A. Zoid: Pink Princess. Endurance: 130 p. Reaction time-" recited Kokoro. She wasn't quite sure where the information had come from or what it meant; it had just come out of the blue and struck her like an asteroid.  
  
"How on Zi did you get Eira's stats (i like stats. hahaha, you'll have to put up with them) and know them so perfectly? Those are confidential Backdraft property!" yelled Akira. "Pink Princess?" she added. "What a stupid name for a Zoid.... but it makes sense, I guess."  
  
Kokoro simply stared at the purple-haired girl in wonderment as she slowly made her way across the room. Distraction was a good idea. "Why do you insist that emotions are nonexistent when you have them yourself?"  
  
"I- what do you mean...?"  
  
"Curiosity, sarcasm, humor, criticism, lov-"  
  
"Stop. Stop right there." Akira forced Kokoro down into a chair before she could get any closer to the door to the little room. "You will stop do as I say from now on, so shut up and listen to me."  
  
Kokoro was forced to nod under Akira's cold stare. She sat there, to afraid to move.  
  
"Right. Now, where is it?!!"  
  
"Where is what?"  
  
"You know what I'm talking about."  
  
Kokoro shook her head and Akira slapped herself on the forehead. "Why am I the one who has to do this?!!" she asked herself.  
  
***  
  
Okay... I wanted to end it here, though this isn't really supposed to be the end of the chapter. I wanted to upload. Dates- the cable goes next Wednesday, but that's okay, 'cause starting today I've seen every episode of Zoids: Chaotic Century, except the last four. Also, AOL goes bye-bye October 6.  
  
I got a Raynos model kit recently. I also watched my brother's DVD of "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack" today. My rating: it doesn't NEED a rating, 'cause I like it. My dad didn't understand it, so he wasn't very impressed.  
  
This story is starting to get a little strange. This is why I put it in the Sci-Fi gender. Because it IS Sci-Fi. Anyways, next time will definitely be stranger with yet another new character. With the information I've given you in this chapter you should know who this character is. On another note, I didn't bother to go through this chapter for any mistakes, so bare with me. I REALLY, REALLY want to write one of my two original animes that have been circulating through my head... 'Cause I have cool character names and more bizarre stuff...  
  
Next time on "Zoids: Renegade Shadow"- It's the first in a series of battles to decide who is the ultimate Zoid pilot- Neos, Hitoshi, Akira, Bit, Kylie, Harry, Vega, Sephiroth, Vivian, Robert, Ayumi, Cid, or even the Kaiser himself! Also, we should learn about the ten Chosen that were mentioned earlier, and more things dealing with that darn number. And, I'll be doing homework! Chapter VI: Ten Chosen. Zoid Eve awaits you... But mainly one of the Chosen. However, they don't make it in this story, sadly. BWAHAHAHA!!! Therefore, the Death Stinger awaits! If I want it to! (I always manage to bring that evil Zoid into things. HA!) And so, ja ne, I have lots of writing to do before October 6! Whoa, this is six pages in size ten font! Ahh! I didn't notice how loooong it was! Ah welll..... Ja ne again! 


	6. Ten Chosen

Chapter VI: Ten Chosen (Hopeless Desire)  
  
"Why do you even bother when you know how this will end... death, pain, and agony."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"I'll kill him myself if you don't give it to me!" shouted Akira, aggressively grabbing the collar of Kokoro's shirt and pulling her closer. Tears welled up in Kokoro's eyes. She didn't know what Akira was talking about.  
  
"Please... let me go! Kill who?!!"  
  
"Give me the darned list or I'll kill Robert Marron!!!"  
  
It took a minute or so for the words to fully sink into Kokoro's head. "As you say, emotions are nonexistent," she lied. "Therefore I have no feelings toward this Robert Marron and do not care what you do to him..."  
  
Akira grinned evilly and backed away slowly. "Then I'm sure you won't mind me self-destructing his Zoid."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Before Adrian Donovan left the Backdraft Commander Craig Altiel had him install one last explosive. He was directed to place it into the very Zoid Core of the Storm Sworder that Robert is now piloting." She turned away, producing a remote that was obviously made to trigger the explosives. "As you can tell I am not joking."  
  
Kokoro watched with sad eyes as Akira prepared to push the trigger. "Robert..." she whispered. "I don't know what to do... shall I you be destroyed, or this entire planet? Somehow I know I have to make this choice... whatever Akira wants, it's bound to help this Kaiser guy destroy Zi... but I can't let her kill you..."  
  
Thankfully Akira set the remote down on a panel before her and pushed a few buttons on the keyboard before her. "I almost forgot," she said cheerily. "We might as well watch, or there's no point to it!" A screen popped up in front of them, showing the battle between that was about to begin.  
  
Kokoro bit her lip as Akira reached her hand over to get the remote. At the last possible moment Kokoro lurched forward and knocked it away. "Why do you even bother when you know how this will all end..." said Akira smugly, "death, pain, and agony."  
  
She grabbed for the remote at the same time as Kokoro, and slipping Kokoro's finger over the trigger button, she pressed down hard. On the screen before them the Storm Sworder exploded just in front of the Gul Tiger, which turned and ran from the spot.  
  
"Robert!!!!" shrieked Kokoro. "NO!!! Why, Akira?!! How could you do this?"  
  
"I didn't do it. You did, fool."  
  
***  
  
So Akira's merciless, and so are the rest of the three Zoidians. My 'trio of terror,' like in one of the chapter names for maxindpogster's story. Just trying to keep her in character. Kokoro's in character, too. Her weakness is obviously Robert... as Akira's would probably be Neos. So, have I killed him off? Better get back to writing! A Kylie scene....  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Harry," muttered Kylie. In those two hours she had known him, she had grown just a bit fond of him. Fond enough to wish that he didn't know about her secret, the thing that set her apart from all other humans. Why was she like that, anyways? IT wasn't the Backdraft's experiment. She knew that for sure.  
  
*Kylie hummed to herself as she skipped rocks across the lake before her. One, two, three. That was the most she could get. Bit could usually get four or five; Kylie was practicing so she could be better than him in one thing in life. "Huh?" She turned her head, having heard leaves rustle nearby. Seeing nothing, Kylie shrugged and continued to skip rocks. It was probably just some animal.  
  
Before she knew it something was standing next to her. Kylie almost screamed in terror when she realized that she didn't need to be afraid- it was Zeke, of course! Just like her stuffed toy. So Zeke was real! Wow! How delightful and amazing!  
  
Smiling, Kylie followed Zeke into the woods, leaving her toy behind. She had the real thing now- she didn't need a silly stuffed animal to pretend with. Soon they came to a clearing where a light blue Zoid stood. Kylie recognized it as the famous Blade Liger, the hero Van Flyheight's old Zoid. "Wow!" she exclaimed, peering up at it.  
  
Zeke growled softly and fused with the Blade Liger, leaving Kylie standing there. "Zeke, come back!" she said, all teary-eyed. "Don't leave me out here all alone... I don't know where I am..."  
  
Kylie (still being, like, five or six at the time) started to cry when she could have sworn she heard Zeke growling something to her. She dried her eyes and looked up at the motionless Blade Liger. It had obviously suffered many damages from its fight with the Death Stinger.  
  
Yes, she would do it, decided Kylie. She would be just like Zeke and fuse with the Blade Liger! Then, perhaps, she would have a Zoid of her own, though she was far too young to pilot it. Unless Bit ended up with it (oh my goodness, he did). He had a way of convincing Kylie to give him all her cooler things, such as an expensive model of the Ultrasaurus (hehe, Bit's evil, or at least he was as a kid).  
  
So Kylie just stood there, looking up at the enormous Zoid. Now was her chance to show that brother of hers that she could do something right. That she could be 'cool,' just like him!  
  
With that, Kylie fused with the Blade Liger. A pink cocoon surrounded it, and the little girl found herself standing in a field of green grass and flowers (should've seen that one coming)... Nearby was Zeke. She smiled, reached out, and patted him as if he was a dog (silly five-year-old)(I need to stop adding comments in parentheses). Zeke cocked his head and Kylie was convinced that he was smiling at her.  
  
In only a few moments of silence the green field started to disappear, along with her friend Zeke. "Zeke?" asked Kylie. "Where are you going?"  
  
Soon Kylie found herself laying on the grass. She opened her eyes to see Bit peering over her. "What are you doing, taking a nap?" he asked. "Come on, you're going to make me late for dinner."  
  
Kylie obliged and followed Bit, as she was hungry, too. As she was running along an image of a Zoid flashed through her head. It was a white Liger with no weapons.*  
  
***  
  
So Kylie played a part in creating LZ... and LZX... and all that mumbo- jumbo about it not being the Backdraft's fault and about her day with Zeke/the Liger has been officially explained, because Kylie could fuse with Zoids before the experiment/operation. The Backdraft only succeeded in making her live longer than she was meant to. What does this all mean...?  
  
I was right. Nothing makes sense anymore.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids (hoho, yes, it is ZoidS Eve, plural, as that is the name of one of the last four episodes) Eve.  
  
"What's that up ahead?" asked Spring from the pilot's seat of the Hover Cargo. Jamie, Bit, and Leena looked at the screen in front of her.  
  
"I dunno," said Leena, shrugging. "May I continue chasing Jamie now?"  
  
"Wait!" shouted Bit. "I think I've seen that Zoid before, the red and black one. It's called the Death Cat, or something. And the orange tiger Zoid is the Gul Tiger. Doc has a model of that one in his gallery."  
  
"But who're the pilots?" asked Jamie, relieved that Leena was done chasing him.  
  
"I don't know," said Spring, "But right about now we're on top of the ZG (Zoidian Guild)'s headquarters. I don't know if I can find the entrance during a Zoid battle."  
  
The Gul Tiger roared, looking from the wreckage of a Storm Sworder to the Hover Cargo. "Hey!" yelled its pilot to his teammate. "I know that Hover Cargo! That's the Blitz team!"  
  
A comlink appeared on the Hover Cargo's screen, and there was Sephiroth, giving the peace sign. "Hey there!" he said enthusiastically. "Ha ha, long time no see!"  
  
"Uhh... sure," answered Bit, obviously confused.  
  
"Let me guess, you want to know what's going on, don't you?" another comlink popped up to show the face of Vivian (uh-oh... I keep forgetting what my characters look like. time to start improving my drawing skills).  
  
"Err, Sephiroth, you work for the ZBC now, don't you?" asked Jamie.  
  
"Yeah, and this is Sylv-"  
  
Vivian glared at him.  
  
"I mean, this is Vivian, my assistant, or whatever you want to call her." Sephiroth grimaced to himself, thinking of what Vivian would to to him for calling her Sylvia again.  
  
"I can tell that you miss Sylvia," smiled Spring. "But could you tell us what happened to that Zoid?"  
  
Sephiroth pointed behind himself. "It flew out of that gorge over there, and was about to attack when it just exploded (i sure think of strange ways to avoid writing battles out!). Don't know why it was going to attack and don't know why it blew up. And don't know who and where the pilot is."  
  
"How come you people always like to beat up on my little brother?" A black Geno Saurer rose out of the gorge and landed behind Sephiroth's Gul Tiger.  
  
"Cid Marron!" shouted Leena. "Okay, to LZX, Bit!" Bit nodded and slipped off to the catapult with her.  
  
Sephiroth sighed. "This just hasn't my day, has it?"  
  
***  
  
" 'Ten Chosen will arise to save Zi from certain destruction. As the Death Stinger goes out to destroy the Zoids Eve they must protect it... but they'll fail. It is inevitable. All will be lost. Humanity and civilization on Zi will end and Eve will die...' " Sylvia Minogue looked up from the ancient scroll and stared at the ruins around her. This was impossible. Prophecies weren't supposed to contradict each other. This one was like most of the others, but a lot less poetic and archaic-like. She had recently found one that told that the Chosen wouldn't fail, but their victory would come at a great price. SO the question was, what is the cost? And how could they defeat the Death Stinger when it's already destroyed? Besides, who ARE the Chosen? "Huh..."  
  
Zoid Eve was the very core of Zi. So how could it be destroyed without the planet itself being destroyed? What exactly was Zoid Eve? It had always ben the biggest mystery. The origin o Zoids and Zoidians was still a mystery, yes, but Zoid Eve was the biggest of them all. All the supposed answers were illogical. Maybe Fiona Alissi Lynett had discovered the Eve, but they still didn't know to what extent its powers were. Maybe Zoidians had telepathy and other even stranger yet unique powers, but they still didn't know much about themselves. There was doubt that they knew anything to begin with before the Death Saurer. Someone had to have the answers. Or at least someTHING. Perhaps Zoid Eve?  
  
The Death Stinger had no way to reawaken. Its only remains was its tail, and that had been pretty much destroyed when the Backdraft Whale King hosting it had been shot down by the ZBC- wait. If part of the Death Stinger was still out there then it was revivable. Spring was right. It was coming. Though she had felt it before any other Zoidians... did this mean that little Ehtelë was actually one of the Chosen herself?  
  
Or did Sylvia just have an overactive imagination?  
  
"Wha-?!" For a moment she could have sworn she felt something. It left... and then came back. "Darn sensitiveness," muttered Sylvia as she got up and walked over to the Rev Raptor. "Twilight!" The black organoid appeared beside her.  
  
***  
  
"Bit an' Leena here. Ready to launch the Liger Zero X!"  
  
"Huh?" asked Jamie. "Oh yeah..." He pressed the launch button and LZX shot out of the Hover Cargo, landing next to Sephiroth's Gul Tiger and Vivian's Zoid.  
  
"Glad you could join us," said Adrian sarcastically, "But you don't really need to. We have X's too."  
  
"Well, you don't have the Ultimate X!" answered Bit. Sitting behind him, Leena grinned in agreement. "This should be a cinch! Mobilize, Liger!"  
  
***  
  
"Liger..." It was a hopeless desire. Wherever Liger was, he couldn't hear her, anyways. All Kylie wanted was to find Bit. There was no telling what could happen now. She sighed and fused with Leena's old Dibison.  
  
***  
  
Jamie looked at the screen in front of him, watching the Liger Zero X, Gul Tiger, Death Cat, and Geno Saurer fight when suddenly a Spino Snapper came out of nowhere.  
  
"Don't think you can get rid of me that easily!" shouted Robert (come on... why would I kill him so fast?) . "The Backdraft may have destroyed that Storm Sworder, but I don't really care! I'm not going to let Dr. Scott down!"  
  
"What is he talking about?" asked Leena. Liger extended two blades and made a mad dash at Cid's Geno Saurer. The Geno Saurer jumped to the side and shot out a hand at Liger, which narrowly missed. While Liger was distracted by the Geno Saurer Vivian and Sephiroth took on their new enemy. It extended two chainsaw blades and roared menacingly.  
  
"I don't have time to mess around..." muttered Bit. "All we have to do is get Spring back to the ZG, and then I want to get back to Doc! He might know who did this to him!"  
  
"Right!" shouted Leena in agreement. "Let's keep this short an' sweet! Liger Zero X Fuinë! Go!" Liger roared and ejected his normal blue armor. He glowed, and black armor appeared (pixel by pixel!) in its place. "Shadow mode ACTIVATED!"  
  
Liger's shadow rose up off of the ground and twirled around him a few times. Then, it engulfed Liger. In a few moments Liger's glowing receded to show a whole new Liger Zero X. In Shadow mode.  
  
"Guess that's our cue!" shrugged Vivian. "CHAO, Shadow mode!" The Death Cat transformed to Shadow mode in a brilliant display of lights.  
  
"Aráto!" yelled Sephiroth. "Let's get that Spino Snapper!"  
  
***  
  
Let the Death Stinger awake again and you let the destruction of Zi occur... the safety of this planet falls into your hands. But who cares about Zi. It's a barren planet now, anyways. Just look at what the humans have done to what used to be fertile and lush...  
  
Someone stepped into the Whale King wreckage and looked around. Seeing the weapons control systems still operational, the person laughed.  
  
This was too easy. Obviously the Kaiser hadn't been smart enough to get here first.  
  
***  
  
Questions/Notes: 1. How did Robert survive that stupid explosion? The answer is incredibly simple: because I wanted him to. So there. Okay, really. Robert knew about the explosives so he reprogrammed the Zoid to eject the cockpit when the trigger button was pushed, and then for it to explode. Thus the slight delay in the explosion.  
  
2. Uh... I'm confused. Aráto? Right, Aráto is the name of the organoid permanently bonded with Adrian's Gul Tiger. He knows its name because... because it sounds cool. So there. In that-made-up-high-elven-language-I- like-to-use, it means 'champion.' Makes sense now, doesn't it?  
  
3. Hey, why didn't Sephiroth and Robert use Shadow mode, too?!! Well, duh, their Zoids aren't equipeed with it.  
  
4. What about Vivian's Zoid? Did I make that up? Well... no. I found a piccy of the Death Cat's model in the same place as I found the Gul Tiger, and they're both extremely cool. Well, they aren't really cool models, but I think they would be cool-looking in the show.  
  
5. So... who exactly is this other person trying to revive the Death Stinger? Obviously it's not the Kaiser. He (or she) is trying to but the other person got there first. Would I tell you who it is? Obviously not. And obviously the person is a complete idiot to think that they can revive and control that evil Zoid. but maybe not. Maybe they have something else up their sleeve, something even I don't know about. Here's a clue, is some one you know well... not very well, but some one we all know... if you read my last story and observed which character's are very ignorant and which ones aren't. ; )  
  
6. Why does the prophecy thing sound so stupid? Well, because I'm bad at writing prophecies, along with battles and explanations.  
  
7. Since your internet will no longer exist after October 6, will you go on to leave us at a standstill after this story and continue to write Zoids: Dreams of Shadows as originally planned? Of course not! That would be pure torture to all of us! Me, the writer, and you, the readers! I already have the ending planned out... and who stay's becomes bad guys and good guys... who the Kaiser is- wait, I don't know that. Never mind. But I do know the ending and all that junk. You can develop your own theories on that, but here's a warning, it will be incredibly SPOILERIFFIC!!!!! I think I stole that term from Anime Admirer's, so it's Julie's word. There. Spoileriffic as in what Zoid Eve really is, which I know from reading the spoilers at Anime Admirer's (as you can tell, I absolutely love that site). I've always thought it was a huge Zoid Core ; ) I also plan to kill off characters... As I always do... Even though I can't keep them dead. You probably suspected that, as I'm always devising ways to do so. But I'm not saying if they'll come back or not, and who gets to 'die.'  
  
8. What's the name of the next chapter? Chapter VII: Nights into Dreams . The name should tell you enough about the chapter, but I might change it, because I'm only sure about a few things in this story. The stuff in the middle, for example... I don't really know what to put there. But I'll think of something.  
  
9. So why does it take you so long to write? Because of school, of course. And because I've taken to using a lot of time on the computer playing the yellow version of Pokemon... I'm hooked.... unfortunately. Only 'cause Clefairy (my strongest Pokemon thus far) is cute. And so is the level 6 Jigglypuff I just caught yesterday. And you can't forget Kadabra... or Pidgeott... Or the fact that I just defeated Kago (Gym Leader of err, the place with Safari Zone, I think that's his name) and when I finished him off all I had was Pikachu left with only one life point thing left. Ouch. I have a moonstone, but Clefairy is a whole lot cuter than Clefable... I'll never evolve him! HA! I do want to get rid of Pikachu for a Raichu, though. Wait! But then he won't follow me around... (Pikachu likes me even though he's only my third strongest Pokemon, after Clefairy and Kadabra. Good for him.) I need to play that right now and catch a Scyther in Safari Zone... and a Tauros.... and an Oddish... they always seem to get away from me. Oh yeah... What good is a Magikarp?!!!! They won't even learn surf! (maybe I can teach it icebeam...) Do they evolve into Goldeen or am I stupid?  
  
10. Do you watch the Pokemon anime? Okay, you have just offended me. I shall never stoop that low. And personally, I believe that Ash is the worst Pokemon trainer ever. He's an idiotic fluke. No offense to Ash- lovers. I do, however, read the Magical Pokemon Journey comic every once in a while. It's cute and funny. I think it's much better than the anime. *unnecessary thought* They should make that an anime instead of the one showing now... No offense, Pokemon anime lovers.  
  
Enough with my useless rants about Pokemon and such. *oblivious to everything around herself* Must upload. Or even better, play Pokemon! Yay! Oh yes, I now know what happens at the end of Zoids: Chaotic Century thanks to our friend Julie's spoilers at her Chaotic Century site. Don't remember the address.  
  
Note to self: Starting October 6th, get a life. 


	7. A Fateful Encounter

Chapter VII: A Fateful Encounter  
  
"Life is SUPPOSED to be confusing. You just have to except your fate and try to live with it. Even if it means everything around you is destroyed, or everyONE around you. Even... Zoid Eve..."  
  
Yiss... I changed the chapter name... Again... Yiss... I like to say "yiss" instead of "yes"... Yisss. It DOES sound better... Yiss, I got a Gundam Sandrock Custom model... Yiss, is my first Gundam.... Yiss, I lost the yellow V piece that goes on its forehead... Yiss, I have eight Zoid models... Yiss, over the weekend my brother got Kingdom Hearts and it's incredibly kawaii and fun to play... Yiss, is by Squaresoft and Disney Interactive... yiss, I played it for four hours so far... Yiss, I learned to sing in Japanese if I have the lyrics (in letters, not character thingy's)and music... And Yiss. The internet is still here. It's not Oct. 3 yet. Yiss!!!  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
A floppy disk materialized in front of Akira as Kokoro sat sobbing on the floor. She grabbed it before it could fall to the ground. "It took you long enough," muttered the Zoidian as she left the room, the door sliding shut behind her.  
  
"Robert... it's all my fault, and now I've lost you as well as Zi," cried Kokoro softly.. "I don't know what's on that disk but I do know that I shouldn't have given it to her... I don't even know how I gave it to her! What's wrong with me?!!"  
  
The only thing Kokoro could remember was that Storm Sworder... perhaps, after Robert had fixed it up, she should have tried to pilot it. Doing that could have helped her lean more about herself. But she would probably learn too much for her own good.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Boring..." Ayumi yawned and Hitoshi handed her the pair of binoculars. "Can't we afford two pairs of these things?"  
  
"To tell the truth, no," answered Neos from over by his Orudios.  
  
On the other side of the huge gorge the fight ensued. The Gul Tiger was taking on Robert's Spino Snapper, while the black Geno Saurer was fighting all of the other Zoids in Shadow mode.  
  
Neos laughed. "Can't they realize that every time they use the transformation it effects Zi?"  
  
Ayumi shrugged. "I guess not."  
  
"So says the girl who attempted to kill Jack Sisco, Dr. Steve Toros, Dr. Layon, and Oscar Hemeros..."  
  
"I would have gone after Altiel, but he's family, and I guess having one family member dead is enough for him."  
  
"Stop playing around with me!" shouted Bit as Liger tried to use Strike Laser Claw on Cid's Zoid. The mercenary simply laughed at him and dodged the attack. The Geno Saurer flipped around, whacking Liger with its tail.  
  
"Leena!" yelled Bit.  
  
"Right," said his co-pilot, " Liger Zero X Atta activated!" Liger separated into two identical black Ligers and both roared. They ran in to attack Cid from either side.  
  
"That little trick isn't going to work again," muttered Cid beneath his breath as the Geno Saurer shot at Leena's Liger. Taking advantage of his distraction, Bit's locked its jaws onto the Geno Saurer's right arm and shook it.  
  
Ayumi shook her head and grinned. "Very interesting," she said to herself. "Resorting to only physical attacks instead of using weapons.... I'll have to try that."  
  
Unfortunately for Cid, LZX was unexpectedly strong even when separated using the Atta (two, if you didn't know) armor. It was at least strong enough to savagely rip off his Zoid's arm, which is what it did. Just after Bit had done so Leena used Strike Laser Claw on Cid's Geno Saurer. Cid smartly disabled the transformation as it went down, allowing the Zoid to have a normal Command System Freeze instead of turning into a Shadow...  
  
"Tch, I could've done a much better job," commented Ayumi.  
  
"Shut up already. The Ultimate X is stronger than any of us ever expected. If it IS the Ultimate X." The silver-eyed Zoidian could barely keep himself from shoving her into the gorge.  
  
***  
  
The modified Dark Horn slowly turned around and ran, following a green Whale King that flew overhead. That's a Backdraft transport! Harry thought to himself. Where are they going?  
  
Aboard the large Zoid, Commander Altiel stood looking out the window of his observatory, as usual. He paid no heed to the following Dark Horn and focused on keeping track of a Dibison up ahead. Unlike usual, Commander Altiel was doing something directly against the Count's wishes. He was going after Nanase. The Count was such a coward! Leaving their most valuable asset for the Zoid Battle Commission to find and use?  
  
He walked out of his room and into his hall, towards the hangar. When Craig had mentioned this to the Count his superior had simply shook his head in despair. Obviously he did not feel that Commander Altiel needed to do so.  
  
"In those five years that Nanase was with us, I never laid a hand on her. She is free to do as she pleases. After all Nanase does have a family, even if it's Bit Cloud. We can't force her to do anything for us," the Count had said.  
  
"It," corrected Commander Altiel. "It. Not she. Organoids are not living creatures, and she is not naturally alive anyways." Can't force her to do anything? They had forced her to live, so why not?  
  
The Count had grumbled something in response, clearly annoyed. "If you dare to touch even a hair on her head I'll make sure you regret it. These are my orders and you will obey them no matter what."  
  
Thinking back to the day before, the Commander smiled. He was finally doing what he'd always longed to do. Craig had never liked taking orders from the Count or the Committee of Seven. Ha, so he was brave enough to defy them! He would show the Count! Compared to Altiel the Count was nothing but a weak fool!  
  
"Where are they-?" Harry started to ask himself. He looked ahead and saw Nanase's Dibison, Nanase still standing next to it. So, was she part of the Backdraft? If she was, then it would be Harry's duty to arrest her, even if he liked her the slightest bit. Anyways, he still hadn't completed his mission, and that meant he couldn't completely graduate. This meant a lot to him, and he was willing to do a lot to graduate.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself...Zoid... Eve...  
  
"It seems as though I've found you before either the Backdraft, the Zoidian Guild, or the Kaiser found you, eh?"  
  
The Deathstinger's (yes... I've started doing it as one word, it looks better) tail was stationed on top of the wrecked Whale King, It awkwardly twitched a little bit as a red organoid walked up to it and stared, a gleam in his eye.  
  
"Ambient..." Organoids always go back to Zoid Eve. So do Zoidians, but they can choose to come back or just die like a normal human being. Ambient was an organoid and he had never really died. He had just gone back...He glowed for a single moment and fused with the Deathstinger's tail.  
  
Slowly, yet surely, the ancient Zoid was beginning to grow back the rest of its body. many legs and two pinchers extended, snapping at the Whale King. Someone laughed as Ambient cam out of the Deathstinger and the Zoid screeched. .Yes, the Deathstinger was back. And this time nothing could stop it.  
  
***  
  
"Wha-?!!!" Akira abruptly faltered in her walk through the underground caves. Something was practically pulling at her, telling her she had to stop. It felt as if her head was about to explode as the image of an everlasting red and blue crustacean : ) flashed in her mind. It was back, and this time Van Flyheight wasn't here to stop it...  
  
***  
  
"...Akira?" asked Neos, turning to look where her Zoid had landed earlier that day.  
  
"She went to do something for the old man, remember?" mumbled Ayumi, trying to get the single pair of binoculars out of Hitoshi's grip.  
  
"You never cared about her when we released you..." put in the other Zoidian as he childishly yanked the binoculars away from Ayumi, who glared and stuck her tongue out.  
  
Neos didn't reply, looking over to his Orudios. "Did she take Trinity?"  
  
"Rrrr..." The silvery-white organoid popped out of nowhere.  
  
"Would you stop doing that?!!" shouted Neos, jumping away quickly. The organoid cocked its head and seemed to laugh as Neos sweat-dropped and looked at her (oh yeah... her! Before I've called it a he, well, I was wrong! This one is a her, so there!!!) wearily. "By the way, Ayumi," said Neos, trying to ignore Trinity, "How can you be sure that our Kaiser IS an old man? He- well, it- could be anything. Even an artificial intelligence system, if you think about it. No one has ever seen hi- it, except for Hitoshi, and he won't tell."  
  
"You mean you've been Kage's aide for years now and you still haven't even SEEN him?!!" yelled Ayumi.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why do you even listen to that geezer?!!"  
  
"Watch your tongue or it could be cut off. Because if I defy him, he obviously wouldn't think twice about killing me, and I don't want to be dead. Who knows who and what he really is! I mean, it is!"  
  
A very pale-faced Hitoshi stood up. "Believe me, you don't want to know. Neos is right, he doesn't hesitate to kill. Not for a second. Not even a millisecond. I've seen him in action, and it's not very pretty... If you're smart, you'll forget we ever had this conversation."  
  
Of course, Ayumi would forget eventually because of Hitoshi's kinetic abilities (like Ryss, an I already explained this anyways).  
  
*"Faye?" asked Hitoshi, looking around (why do they always look around?!!! WHY?!!!) the forest. "Where are you?" Darn, he thought. The newly released "Kaiser Kage" had threatened that if Hitoshi became too attached to someone, the relationship couldn't last very long. Their work was swift and painful to all, not just the citizens of whatever town Kaiser randomly selected to "train" his new assistants in the art of destruction. (EVIL!!!!!)  
  
"Oof!" His one and only friend plopped down from the treetops above (Strange, isn't it?) and looked up at him, smiling. "Hiya! What's going on?" Always so cheerful...  
  
Hitoshi didn't look very pleased as he said, "And just WHAT were you doing up there?"  
  
"Goodness, you sound like my mother."  
  
"You don't HAVE a mother."  
  
"Neither do you." With that the pair laughed a little and looked up through the spaces in the trees to see pinkish clouds covering up the moons (not the pluralness I need to stop these evil comments...). "What did you want?"*  
  
***  
  
"What's with HIM all of the sudden?" Ayumi whispered to Neos, who stared blankly at the fight nearby.  
  
"Don't ask...Unfortunately, I don't need to be a witness to understand what happened.... Even though I was, again unfortunately, a witness. You probably wouldn't understand, seeing as normally I can't stand the sight of humans."  
  
"Okay, Gul Tiger, now it's our turn!" shouted Sephiroth as the Gul Tiger ran forward to fight the Spino Snapper. "This shouldn't take long." Adrian backed his Zoid up against the large boulder he had fallen off of earlier, and Robert moved in for the take (can't remember the correct saying, will fix later). When the Spino Snapper brought its chainsaws down at the Gul Tiger the Zoid jumped away, and the blades were stuck in the rock.  
  
Turning around to face the Spino Snapper again, the cannon on the Tiger's back started to gather charged particles!  
  
"That thing has a charged particle cannon?" Leena asked Bit. He shook his head. "No, I don' think so. It looks like a miniature one."  
  
Note: Yiss, the Gul Tiger DOES have a miniature CPC. It does on the model, so this is my quick way to end the battles, and as you can remember, I don't like writing the battles 'cause they're hard to write. For me, anyways.  
  
In about ten seconds the miniature CPC fired at Robert's Zoid, which broke free from the rock and tried to move out of the way. It didn't get very far and the beam of light hit its leg, crippling the Spinosaurus-type Zoid.  
  
Bit grinned to himself. "Hahaha, another battle one for the Blitz team!"  
  
"And us!" shouted Vivian and Sephiroth.  
  
"Why couldn't I have flown out in the Raynos?" Jamie asked himself, whining a little.  
  
"Because you have bigger fish to fry," answered Spring, trying to make him feel better.  
  
"You mean like a couple War Sharks?"  
  
"Hey! Did I miss all of the action?" yelled a voice : ) as a familiar Rev Raptor ran towards the group of Zoids.  
  
"Who..." asked Vivian, seeing the expression on Sephiroth's face through her comlink. It was, of course, blank as usual, but his eyes were... different... she couldn't tell. He looked a little... happy. Happy, relieved, and yet a little... scared. Of what she wasn't sure. With Sephiroth it was so hard to tell.  
  
***  
  
Was going to be longer but.... now that I've finished the chapter, this is my last day with the internet at home. We go to the library every two weeks and went last Saturday, so it'll be a while before I can get on the internet again. Anyways, I don' t think I can upload stuff there. The evilness....  
  
Look at Bit's face... and look at Van's. They look alike, their faces, that is. Another reason of why-Bit-is-Van's-descendant. Anyways, I thought this chapter was long enough and want to upload it, knowing that the date the internet goes goodbye draws ever-nearer... Oops, I forgot to put the dream I was going to put in it in it in the first place... Which is why I changed the chapter name, anyways.  
  
Okay, next time, if there IS a next time, is Chapter VIII: Yume no Sukohi Ato. Which is "A Little After the Dream" in Japanese. I know it was supposed to be Nights into Dreams as I said... but I don't really care. You know me, always changing my mind at the last moment. Or maybe you don't. Besides, only about two people read this story (currently, as of September 2002). Watch for evil spoilers, because if there aren't any I'll be amazed art myself. Evil spoilers as to the last four episodes of Chaotic Century and what, where, why, how, and maybe even who (wasn't supposed to say that) Zoid Eve really is Make sure you listen to the Ending Theme (or Yuna's theme) from Final Fantasy X while reading it.... Bwahaha. Evil me. Must go watch the music video to Yuna's theme again... Soooo pretty.... ARGH!!! MAKE THE VOICES STOP!!! (this must be what scares away any other potential readers and reviewers. Go download the video. NOW. Because I say so. Thorin the Clefairy says so, too, so unless you want to be hit by Bubblebeam, MegaPunch, or Metronome...)  
  
"Just follow what your heart tells you to do..."  
  
"But I don't have a heart..." 


	8. Yume no Sukoshi Ato

Chapter VIII: Yume no Sukoshi Ato (A Little After the Dream)  
  
"Strange, isn't it?"  
  
This chapter was going to be sad an' coincide with the song that plays during the credits of FF X, but I changed my mind (again), so it's not sad, but it DOES coincide with the song or a while. A couple pages, maybe... Ah heck, who cares?!!!  
  
I'm BACK!!!! YES!!! The internet exists again in our household... I've actually written up to chapter #14 or so, but... I need to reread it all to make sure NOTHING contradicts anything else, 'cause it probably does. The lack of internet and/or cable has made my writing a whole lot longer, but sadly a whole lot stranger and confusing (you'll see why later, I've confused myself as to some things). And you can guess that I'm mad that I haven't seen the last four episodes of Zoids, but probably everyone else has. So... if you know where I can download them (I can probably find 'em on KaZaA) do tell. PLEASE!!!  
  
In other news, my brother (Ragnorok) is leaving for DeVry in July... that's a college. And I finished Kingdom Hearts (while crying through the ending sequence, the credits, and the never-ending version of "Dearly Beloved" and the never-ending cover picture). And I beat another game, "Threads of Fate," a zillion time making me hyper... okay, enough of this.  
  
My ideas about what's gonna have changed a little... be prepared for mass confusion... and I've finally found a good place to introduce Faye, who I've promised for a while now. Not that you care, but hey! The internet's back! That makes me incredibly happy!  
  
BTW, my file containing all the written chapters of this story is now 94 pages long.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
Shadows... there were too many Shadows these days, now that others had discovered how to use them for their own benefit. Bit and Leena, for example, using the transformation to win battles until the ZBC banned it from organized battles. Eventually the Shadows would become too hard to control, giving the Shadow Emperor more power over his unknowing servants, who didn't even suspect that they were being used for a greater but much more evil cause. And history would repeat itself again in another variation.  
  
Vivian knew this. Not many people knew the history of their planet Zi, but Vivian did. She also knew that the Kaiser did, too, and would use this to his advantage. They both knew how small the difference between Zoids and Zoidians were. There was always a side effect created from using things abnormal to Zi, but native to another planet- such as Earth, where all humans originated. Vivian knew of this as well. In fact, she knew it better than anything else.  
  
That was the downfall of actually BEING one of these side effects- you knew exactly what you were and you could never forget it. You also knew that, in some cases, the Kaiser Kage was right; emotions were nonexistent in most things. Such as Shadows that had always been Shadows and would always be Shadows. Things that didn't have hearts (oh no... playing Kingdom Hearts is effecting this) and would never have hearts. Though they might try to convince themselves that yes, they WERE capable of creating their own emotions, it would never work.  
  
Humans, on the other hand, were very capable of emotions, as were Zoidians. Sephiroth would never know or understand that his assistant had only existed for about the amount of time she had BEEN his assistant. Vivian would never tell him, of course. She was still trying to tell herself that she COULD have feelings for Sephiroth or anyone else, no matter what her unintentional creators would ever say.  
  
***  
  
A beam of light flew through the Whale King wreck, destroying what was yet to be destroyed. It went on to pierce a wrecked Ultrasaurus nearby (the Ultrasaurus used against the Deathstinger in Guardian Force, the wreck Liger and the Berserk Fury fought on in the Royal Cup). It singed the Ultrasaurus' armor, but nothing more. "Ambient..." began the person piloting the Deathstinger. Apparently, the organoid understood. The Deathstinger burrowed underground. It had just now awakened- of course it wasn't strong enough to destroy either the Ultrasaurus OR the Ultimate X yet! But in time it would be ready, and Ambient would no longer be necessary. The organoid limited the Deathstinger's true potential. There was plenty of time left for the world. Until the Deathstinger destroyed the Ultimate X. Then Zi would be shrouded in darkness, an ultimate ragnorok! The Zoid's shadow would-  
  
Enough of that. Revenge first, boasting later. There was one person to start with, one Zoidian, one organoid, and one Zoid. A trio, broken apart, with two different masters.  
  
***  
  
Twilight growled softly and looked up at Zi's two moons, waiting for Sylvia to wrap up her conversation so they could go home. Obviously that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. It was driving the organoid crazy. These relationships between beings got in the way a lot. Conversations were very droll. Who cared about what another being had been up to for the past two years? The only thing that needed to be focused on was the present, not the past. And besides, Sylvia knew that the Deathstinger had reawakened, so why bother with anything? There was no way all of them would survive whatever epidemic that was soon to happen.  
  
Maybe Twilight could just go back to Neos, seeing as the Zoidian was just across the gorge, waiting for her to come back and raise the chances of him being any match for the Ultimate X. Or waiting for something else; who knew? He didn't have any relationships. Well, he hadn't really even known about this type of relationship until he saw the look on Fiona Alissi Lynett Flyheight's face when...  
  
What was the point? You weren't supposed to dwell in the past, or the future. Just the present, which was why Twilight decided to stay with Sylvia for the time being. She needed an organoid. Hers was gone forever.  
  
In the darkness a shadow crept by, running away from the light. Twilight looked down at it, cocking her head. In a flash she stomped on it. The Thing squirmed to get away, and in a moment it stopped bothering. Giving up on life? Twilight moved her metallic foot, allowing it to get away. These "shadows"- there were more and more of them every day. No one seemed to notice them. And if someone did, they wouldn't understand how a shadow can actually live. That was the price of using Shadow Mode whenever you liked, and it was a very big price.  
  
Vivian- Twilight could tell that she had something to do with these shadows, and she knew that others did as well. They were hiding it, though, because they were only human. Well, not necessarily human, but because they were only living beings and that's what any normal being would do if they suspected any of these relationship things between the accused and someone else.  
  
Twilight was very glad that she wasn't a human or a Zoidian. She didn't have to put up with any feelings being directed towards her.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Sephiroth, what's wrong?"  
  
Sephiroth Adrian Donovan turned around from staring across the gorge at New Helic City and smiled at Sylvia. "Nothing, really..."  
  
"No sad faces, okay (more Kingdom Hearts-influenced stuff!!!!)?" asked Sylvia, smiling back. Sephiroth laughed and nodded a little.  
  
"It's hard to believe we're both twenty, huh?"  
  
"It's even harder to believe that I should be a whole lot older than that," added his friend, also laughing.  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm glad you're not."  
  
Sylvia stopped smiling and looked to the ground. "You know, I sometimes wonder what would've happened if the Wind Colony wasn't destroyed." She sat down with her legs dangling over the edge of the vast chasm. "Bit probably wouldn't have ever found the Blitz team and piloted the Liger Zero. The Backdraft probably would have been successful in most of their plans. And that Harry kid probably would've gotten his wish, for Leena to love him... No one would ever know how special Bit really is! And the general public wouldn't know what the term "Ultimate X" means! And..."  
  
"You and I wouldn't have met." Sephiroth sat down next to her. "I think fate would have found a way to work things out just the same. Maybe you're right, though. Maybe- just maybe- all of our families would still be alive, and maybe if the Deathsaurer had never gone berserk no one would ever have equipped weapons on Zoids, maybe all of us humans would have stayed on whatever planet we originally came from, maybe Shadow mode never would have happened. Maybe Van Flyheight and Fiona never would have met. Zoidians would live in a whole different world, Bit never would have been born and neither would Kylie, and if she was never born, hey, I'd still be in the Backdraft- wait, if humans never came to Zi then the Backdraft wouldn't exist..."  
  
"You know, Sephiroth, if you love me all you have to do is kiss me."  
  
And of course he complied.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
"Harry?" asked Nanase. She turned around, only to realize that no, he was gone, probably forever. That kid wasn't coming back. So Nanase would have to figure out some way to get the Backdraft off of her trail by herself. Ah well, if the Backdraft was after you, then why not just destroy the Backdraft itself?  
  
Harry's eye twitched as he watched the Whale King slowly land, its mouth opening. He hoped that neither the Backdraft nor Nanase would do anything rash. He also hoped that HE wouldn't do anything rash. It was very likely that Harry would just end up making a fool of himself again and become the laughing stalk of the entire academy. His peers, his instructors...  
  
Who cared what they thought, anyways?!! It only mattered what Harry thought right now! And Harry thought that Nanase wasn't stupid enough to be involved in the Backdraft. He thought that, despite her strange abilities, she deserved to have a friend. He thought that she was a very, very special girl and that...  
  
Harry watched in sheer amazement as Nanase fused with Leena's Dibison yet again.  
  
*"Why won't you just leave those poor kids alone?" came a shout from Commander Altiel's room.  
  
Nanase was walking down the hallway of his personal Whale King when she overheard an argument. She placed an ear against the door and closed her eyes.  
  
"Please, don't..." murmured another girl from inside of the room. "I don't mind..."  
  
"No, I won't take this anymore," said a man sternly. "And you won't either. Neither will Nanase, or Vega, Yoko, Sayo, Taro, or poor Faye, or Eira, or Adrian, or Ayumi-"  
  
"Enough of you ramblings, Scott..." began Altiel.  
  
"Children aren't to be simply experimented with!" shouted Dr. Scott.  
  
Nanase opened her eyes to make sure no one was coming and catch her eaves dropping.  
  
"Ha ha, you can't catch me!" Nanase heard a shout from down the hall and looked for a place to hide. She wasn't fast enough. "Oof!" cried Nanase as someone ran into her.  
  
"Oh!" cried a boy a few years older than her. "Vega's sorry, aren't you, Vega?"  
  
Vega, the young one with the longer black hair, wasn't listening. "Not again..." he murmured.  
  
"If you won't ease up I'll take them out of here myself, to find some real and deserving parents!" shouted Dr. Scott.  
  
"Zoids Eve knows when they'll stop or how it will end this time," added the youngest girl, who had pink hair and eyes. "I'm glad that at least I have parents. Too bad for you bunch, though."  
  
"Faye!" cried two others, about Nanase's age, who looked to be twins. "What if they abandon us..." murmured the boy, "...like Mom and Dad?!!" finished the girl.  
  
"Just stop it..." said the oldest, apparently called Faye. She ran her fingers through her hair and stared back at Nanase with big silver eyes. "What's you're name?"  
  
"I don't know- I mean, Nanase, I guess..." answered Nanase.  
  
"You should get back to your family."  
  
"I don't have one..."  
  
"Welcome to the club."  
  
"Fine!" shouted Dr. Scott. "Keep this up and I'm out of here! You can't afford that, and you know it. I'm only staying because you're my brother." The door shot open and the group immediately shot behind it, leaving Nanase to stand there perplexed. "Oh, hello, Nanase. If my brother tells you to do something stupid don't listen to him. And don't let that Adrian get into trouble, okay?" He managed a small smile and shot off down the hall, pulling a girl about Nanase's age behind him. She looked dazed, and stumbled. Dr. Scott stopped and simply picked her up. "It's okay, Koko..."  
  
She sighed and remembered what Faye had said: "Welcome to the club."  
  
The group of children came back out after Altiel left the room to go after his brother and the girl. "They just turned back on that generator," mumbled Yoko, the oldest boy who also had black hair. "D***."  
  
"Yoko!" shouted Faye. "You know you're not supposed to swear in front of the younger children!"  
  
"But he's right, they did turn on that generator," countered Vega. "And you know what that means..."  
  
"What generator?" asked Nanase.  
  
"It's like his signature," explained Faye. "Most every time he wants his enemy to know that he's coming he turns it on, and then BANG!!! Artificial thunderstorm. Usually it kicks up a sandstorm, too. Of course, we're usually the ones who go after the victim, whether we like it or not. He should do his own dirty work."  
  
Taro and Sayo, the twins, nodded in agreement. Nanase shuddered. She hated storms more than Altiel himself.*  
  
***  
  
"Bit?" Bit stopped fiddling with Liger's controls and looked up, opening the cockpit. "Leena?" he asked. "What is it?"  
  
"I was just wondering..." began Leena, "...do you think Dad will live?"  
  
Bit sighed. Was there nothing that could get her mind off of this? "Is this a trick question?"  
  
"No... I just want an honest answer."  
  
"Uh..." Bit hesitated. He didn't want Leena to feel bad, but he didn't want to get her hopes up for nothing. "I'm not sure. We'll just have to wait and hope the Doc'll be okay."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
BEEP!!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!! A screen popped up on Liger's monitor: (blinking) incoming message... incoming message...  
  
"Huh?" asked Bit. "No one's at the base... who could be contacting us..."  
  
"Extraterrestrials?" joked Leena.  
  
"Seriously..." grumbled Bit. He pushed a button, hoping it would turn on the comlink screen. It did.  
  
"How does this thing work- oh!"  
  
"Harry?!!" asked Bit. "What the-?!!"  
  
"Dang, wrong com," said Harry, lowering his eyes. "Do you know Commander Altiel's-"  
  
"Harry, you joined the Backdraft?!!" asked Leena, alarmed.  
  
"N-no, of course not!" answered Harry crossly. "Why would I do something like that? I'm not a complete idiot, you know- duck, Liger!"  
  
Liger Zero X crouched as Harry told him to, and a beam of energy passed just over them. "Who the..." asked Leena. "Th- thanks, Harry. That was close..."  
  
"And very strange," added Harry. "This is urgent, so do you have Altiel's com or not?"  
  
"Why would we?" asked Bit suspiciously. "Are you SURE you didn't join-"  
  
"Bit, I joined the ZBC, okay? This is a matter of life or death for someone..."  
  
"A GIRL?" asked Leena happily, suddenly forgetting about whoever had shot at them.  
  
"Yes, a girl already!" shouted Harry. "Now do you have it or not?!!"  
  
"No." Leena shrugged. "We could search the database-"  
  
"How long would it take?!!"  
  
"A minute or so. Longer if we have to fight someone. It'll transmit automatically, so whatever's wrong, stall for time."  
  
***  
  
"Okay, stall for time. Like I didn't already know that," scoffed Harry Champ, turning his Dark Horn. It ran up next to Leena's old Dibison and another comlink popped up.  
  
"Harry!" cried Nanase. "I thought..."  
  
"Didn't you just fuse with that thing?!!"  
  
"Faster way to get in the cockpit." She shrugged.  
  
"Sorry about earlier, but we can talk about that later. First..."  
  
A few Zabats flew out of the Whale King's open mouth, shooting at them. Both pilots braced themselves and then shot back, hitting one of the enemy Zoids and narrowly missing another. More of this went on for a few moments when Bit and Lena's comlink reappeared on Harry's monitor.  
  
"It's not in our database, Harry," said Leena. "Have to go, sorry." She closed the comlink hastily.  
  
***  
  
"Sylvia?"  
  
Sylvia Minogue turned around from watching the moons and stars, and occasionally mentioning something to Adrian. She looked down at Spring, surprised. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Ptolemy at-"  
  
"I never told you."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"We disbanded. The Zoidian Guild... no longer exists."  
  
"Wha?!" cried Sylvia. "But why? Why wasn't I-"  
  
"They thought it would be better, because Kage wouldn't be able to wipe us all out with one blow. Yoko knew you would protest." Spring looked to the ground, having had her say.  
  
"And Ptolemy?"  
  
"There was a small dispute... he went to look for Zoids Eve and left me with Yoko."  
  
"Oh." Sylvia sighed. What to do? Why now?! Why did Spring come to her instead of someone else?!!  
  
"There's something about him I just don't understand," hesitated Spring. "Yoko always seemed to like you... please, talk him into finding Ptolemy and-" She stopped suddenly and stared out over the gorge.  
  
"Into what? Spring?"  
  
"It's coming."  
  
***  
  
*"It's coming, isn't it..." Thirteen-year-old Faye stared into the dark forest, searching every shadowy place for that Zoid she had heard so much about. "It's coming and you knew it."  
  
"Maybe I did... so what?" grumbled Hitoshi. He turned around and started to walk away.  
  
"Why don't you just face it?"  
  
"Huh?" He twirled back around.  
  
"It's pointless to run away."  
  
"Do you even know what you're talking about?"  
  
"Of course I do... that Liger. It's coming to destroy our simple lives once again. Only this time, it'll finish the job. The village doesn't stand a chance."  
  
"What are you talking about?" lied Hitoshi, pulling her away from the trees. "Who'd want to destroy your little village? I-" He stopped and shuddered. What was the point of even trying to lie? It was so easy to tell when someone was doing that. "Come on..."  
  
Faye followed him off to his Zoid, taking one last glance at the forest. She saw a pair of huge blood-red eyes staring back at them for just a moment. That Liger...*  
  
"You're doing it again."  
  
"Hito- wha-?!" Faye shot up in bed and turned on her lamp, trying to find who had interrupted her dream.  
  
"You're talking in your sleep again."  
  
She looked up to see Vega Obscura staring at her. "Right, err, thanks," she murmured.  
  
"Why don't you just leave the Backdraft?" asked Vega. "You're what, like, twenty-something?"  
  
"Oh, Vega," Faye laughed. Always so cheerful. "You're so lucky that Sarah took you in. I've been with the Backdraft for so long, I just don't know what I'd do if I ever managed to get out of Altiel's grasp. Seeing as I'm the last of us, he's determined to keep me here..."  
  
"Did you hear about what happened to Nanase?" asked Vega. Perhaps this would persuade her to get out while she still could.  
  
"No..."  
  
"She found out that the Backdraft was the reason that she'd suffered so much... And she found out that she still had a family. That someone out there cared for her. You remember her little locket?"  
  
Faye nodded.  
  
"She found out that it really was hers, that the family on the picture inside was her family... and that it was Commander Altiel who destroyed the Wind Colony, where she lived, in the first place."  
  
"I know that the Backdraft isn't the reason I'm here... it was just a black Liger. But that Liger didn't kill my family because they were already dead. Maybe it was the Backdraft that killed them."  
  
"Or maybe you do still have a family, like Nanase."  
  
Vega stood in silence, thinking. Maybe he, too, had a family out there. And Sayo, Taro, Yoko, and all the others...  
  
"Maybe, just maybe, our 'gifts' are natural. Maybe the Backdraft didn't 'give' them to us..."  
  
"Yeah right, and maybe Dr. Scott is still alive," laughed Vega.  
  
"I guess I shouldn't wish for too much. I probably shouldn't take naps, either."  
  
"They turned the generator on again," said Vega flatly. Faye sighed.  
  
"Yeah, well... off into my Zoid, huh?"  
  
"Yeah. Later. And if you see an opportunity..."  
  
"I know already," mumbled Faye, getting up. She wasn't a kid anymore. There was no reason to take orders from Altiel. A little after her dream she found herself walking off to her Zoid, thinking of the one person she thought and hoped cared for her. She could be wrong, but that look she had seen on his face when...  
  
It wasn't a good idea to think about that right before a battle. She should be thinking of how on Zi she would ever escape the Backdraft... 


	9. Silver Horizon

Chapter IX: Silver Horizon  
  
"Liar."  
  
"If you were in my position, you'd have lied, too."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
The horizon was, strangely, silver. The silver color spread and came closer, so much closer...  
  
"No..." whispered Neos. It was coming, just as they knew it would. And first, it would go after him.  
  
...why? Because. That reason was as good as any for the moment. It was all going to end soon. At least he'd never have to tell anyone his real feelings.  
  
But emotions were nonexistent... so... Akira...  
  
From across the gorge Twilight turned to look at the two huge Zoids no one had seemed to notice. Forget Sylvia, her original master needed her more. Now.  
  
"No," murmured Sylvia. "N- not now, not here... it can't... it... it's after one of the Zoidians. Neos."  
  
Twilight fused with the Orudios as Neos climbed in. Here was as good a place as ever to have a battle- miles away from civilization. No one would be hurt, except for the Chosen, or maybe Hitoshi and Ayumi. Not that it mattered.  
  
Not that he ever cared.  
  
More of these emotions were infiltrating his mind... surely Kaiser was right? Emotions were nonexistent? Then why was Fiona Alissi Lynett so upset when he unintentionally killed her love instead of just capturing him as planned?!! It wasn't fair! Why couldn't something bad happen to Hitoshi for once...  
  
Oh, wait. He forgot. None of it mattered anymore, anyways. In a moment he wouldn't exist to think about it.  
  
Oh, wait. He forgot again. He'd just go back to Zoids Eve. If it was still there, that is.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Just because he's gone doesn't mean I can't remember him," Kokoro reassured herself, still trying to find a way to escape.  
  
***  
  
"Just because she's gone doesn't mean I have to forget her," muttered Robert as he sat still in the cockpit of his Spino Snapper. He sighed. He had tried one last time to do his job so he could get her back peacefully... Firing at the LZX while they thought his Zoid was still disabled... Of course, it hadn't worked.  
  
***  
  
"Who's gone?" came a voice from behind her.  
  
***  
  
"Who's gone?"  
  
***  
  
Kokoro turned around abruptly, prepared to defend herself. But it was only a girl a ear or so younger than her with short, straight blond hair in a red bandana and big green eyes. "Robert," she said, confused. Who was this?  
  
"But Robert's not gone," answered the girl. She grinned. "He's perfectly fine physically, but... inside, he's hurt."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Can't you see? He needs you, Kokoro."  
  
***  
  
"Kokoro," answered Robert, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. This girl, standing just in front of his Zoid, looked a few years younger than himself with short blond hair in a red hair and bright green eyes.  
  
She grinned, clasping her hands together. "But she's not gone! She's perfectly fine.. but... her heart is broken... you need her and she needs you."  
  
Robert opened the cockpit and jumped out, approaching the girl. "How do you know..." he asked.  
  
"I just do."  
  
***  
  
"Who are you..." asked Kokoro, moving toward her.  
  
"I'm just me..."  
  
***  
  
"Have a name?" asked Robert nervously.  
  
"Lori called me Evelyn..."  
  
***  
  
"What are you, exactly?" asked Kokoro.  
  
"I'm... me... not a Shadow, not an organoid, not a Zoidian, not a Zoid, not a human... jus' me. Something..."  
  
***  
  
"What do you want, anyways?" asked Robert.  
  
"I want to... stop the Deathstinger. And bring Kokoro to you. Because you won't be able to do either."  
  
***  
  
"How can you say that?"  
  
"Because I know..."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, is that the pilot of the Spino Snapper?" asked Leena, staring out of the cockpit of the Liger Zero X. She opened it and stood up. "Who's he talking to, the sand?"  
  
Bit laughed. "I don' t know... But remember that he was fighting us earlier. No matter how strange, he's still our enemy!"  
  
"Maybe we could get 'im some psychiatric help?"  
  
"Then get me some, too, 'cause I think I can see someone else down there. C'mon!" Bit jumped down from Liger's cockpit and jogged over to Robert and the girl. Leena reluctantly followed, lagging behind.  
  
***  
  
"So... this is it?"  
  
Sephiroth, Sylvia, and Spring all turned around to face Vivian. "It's finally coming, and Kage isn't even its pilot. Not that it needs one."  
  
"How do you know that?" asked Sephiroth suspiciously.  
  
"I've never even had a real name... and yet I understand so much more about this stupid planet than you do."  
  
***  
  
"Hahaha... gotta destroy Neos... He'll be sorry.... hehe.... this is so great.... WA?!!! Oh... I was jus' asleep."  
  
The Deathstinger burrowed underground, tunneling towards the group of Zoids in the distance. It glinted in the sun as it disappeared. The silver color shrouding the horizon immediately disappeared.  
  
"Just noticed- a charged particle beam is pink. What a coincidence! Oh yeah, gottakillNeosgottakillNeos..."  
  
***  
  
"Ungh..." murmured Kokoro. Something was happening. Something that had to do with this strange girl! Who was she?!! Could she possibly be...  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted as the objects surrounding her disappeared.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
"No."  
  
Akira stopped in her tracks once again while approaching her Zoid, wishing she would miraculously end up back above ground out of the remains of the Zoidian Guild headquarters. If they hadn't disbanded they'd all have died.  
  
"Don't leave."  
  
Nervously she turned around, sighing in relief. It was only a small boy, of course. But those eyes! So penetrating, so vividly black, so... so... controlling...  
  
"You got the list from her? You know how important it is that they're found and killed! Now, tell me, why do you need to know who they are?"  
  
Akira didn't know why she was answering this kid. Who was he, anyways? "Because all ten Chosen, dead or alive, must be present to activate Zoids Eve again. Because one of the Chosen is the overall focus of the Eve, it's very power source..."  
  
"Exactly. Now hand it over before I make you regret it."  
  
Akira shook her head and stepped backwards. "Who are you to tell me what to do? Get your own! This is for Kaiser, not that I'll give it to him anyways if I want Zi to still exist!"  
  
"Fool. You can't even recognize your own Kaiser?"  
  
"WHA?!!!!"  
  
"Not that I normally look like this, but..."  
  
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Akira? Cut it out right now, girl. You have no idea how old I am, how long I've been waiting for this moment."  
  
"NO WAY!!!! You mean all this time I've been doing such stupid things for a BRATTY little KID??!!!!!!!!!! SHOOT!!!!!!!!!!! I COULD'VE BEEN DOING SO MANY BETTER THINGS!!!!! JUST WAIT TILL I TELL NEOS!!!! I COULD GO ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON!!!!!!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE-!!!!"  
  
"ENOUGH!!!" shouted the boy with a surprisingly persuasive tone. "You obviously haven't been listening to me. I can be any shape or size I wish! I'm wasting my time with you. I should just kill you and get it over with. Evelyn, here I come, after all this time..."  
  
Akira continued to curse and yell, occasionally stamping the ground. The boy shook his head and laughed. "What's it been... a couple hundred years? I wonder if she remembers...? Akira, you Chosen, you're dead now."  
  
Akira stopped, foot raised in mid-air. Her purple eye twitched. "D- did you say Akira? Chosen? DIE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Ha ha, yes. Goodbye."  
  
"Forgivemeforgivemeforgiveme!!!! I'll do anything!"  
  
"No you won't." He laughed again as the room became black. "Say hello to Van and Raven for me. Don't worry, dying can't be too bad. It won't be half as bad as becoming a Shadow."  
  
"At least let me say goodbye to him..."  
  
"Hmm. I was hoping this attachment wouldn't happen. Fine."  
  
***  
  
"Where is it..." Neos asked himself, scanning the ground and waiting to be scared half to death.  
  
"What goes down must come UP!!!!" came a stupidly and cockily familiar voice as the Deathstinger came crashing up from underneath Neos' Zoid. The Orudios shot backwards but stopped itself. Suddenly, the green Liger Zero X and Hitoshi's Zoid appeared next to it. "Stay out of this..." murmured Neos. "This is my fight."  
  
Ayumi shrugged from her LZX and both backed off.  
  
***  
  
"Liar!" shouted Sephiroth angrily. How could Vivian do this to him?!!! It'd been two whole years and he still had no idea who she was! And now, he had no idea what she was! Life just wasn't fair. Sylvia cringed. So she was right, Vivian was different. Very different indeed.  
  
"If you were in my position, you'd have lied too," answered Vivian calmly. Why, oh why had she told him the truth? Couldn't she just have kept quiet?!!! "Listen, it's not like you would've believed me back then anyways!"  
  
"And now that you think it's all over you come out and say it," muttered Sephiroth. "Well, you're wrong! I won't let the Deathstinger destroy this world, you, Sylv, or anyone else in it!" He climbed into the Gul Tiger, which roared and took off in a fury to calm himself down.  
  
"Sephiroth, wait!" shouted Sylvia. "Is it really such a big deal...? What is he doing..."  
  
"If he loved you he wouldn't care..." Vivian remarked. "So maybe I was wrong... maybe just because you're reunited..."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"He really, really missed you... more than I could understand... Kaiser's right. Emotions may not be nonexistent, but they sure are useless!" Vivian disappeared and reappeared in her Zoid. It took off in the opposite direction of Sephiroth's.  
  
"I don't understand!" shouted Sylvia in protest. What the heck was going on?!!!!!!!!!!! Where were they were going?!!!!!!! Nothing made sense. She wasn't implying, of course, that it ever had. It must have just been the way Zi worked. The Zoidians still hadn't figured it out! Where had humans come from in the first place if they weren't native to Zi?!! And why did they have to come here and wreak havoc?!!!!!!  
  
***  
  
"Kokoro...." muttered Robert as she appeared before him slowly. He smiled and reached out.  
  
"What the...?" asked Kokoro weakly.  
  
Evelyn smiled dreamily. "It's too bad that-" she began.  
  
"Hmm... perfect timing." He turned around quickly to see a young boy, Akira standing motionless behind him. Her eye twitched in confusion and shock. "He he... can't have this," continued the strange boy.  
  
"Zoids Eve..." mumbled Evelyn. "No! You should have died years ago!:  
  
Robert turned back around to see that Kokoro and Evelyn were both gone. "No!" he shouted. "I was so close, too! That's not fair!"  
  
"Life's not fair, kid," said the boy.  
  
"Who are you to call me a kid..."  
  
"You weren't supposed to get attached to anyone, let alone a Chosen who isn't even human!" said the boy.  
  
"What..."  
  
"Ha. I guess you didn't know." The boy laughed and disappeared again with shocked Akira.  
  
***  
  
"NO! ROBERT!" shouted Kokoro. Evelyn was gone, too. She clenched a hand into a fist and walked over to the metal door and kicked it (like I kick my locker). It fell over. She muttered something vulgar under her breath and walked down the hallway into what seemed to be a control room.  
  
"Welcome to the Ultrasaurus. Or, more like what's left of it." 


	10. What the!

Chapter X: What the?!!!!  
  
" 'What the' is right."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"What the..."  
  
" 'What the' is right." Robert Marron looked to the sand for help. He was so close, but now...  
  
...so far...  
  
Every time he came up with a plan for getting her back it failed. So now the only thing left to do was complete his original orders and, well, kill one of the two standing behind him. Too bad, though. He couldn't. He just couldn't now...  
  
Kokoro wouldn't want him to. Besides, it just wasn't the right thing to do! It would increase the Kaiser's chances of destroying Zoids Eve. That couldn't happen, or they'd all die. All of the Zoids, Zoidians, and organoids. Probably Shadows, too. He didn't know if it included Kokoro, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that...  
  
"Hey, you okay?"  
  
Robert turned around to look at Bit Cloud. "No.... no, I'm not. But I never was in the first place, so..."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Bit's companion, obviously Leena Toros. She looked kind of sad after witnessing what had happened.  
  
"I don't understand her and I never have..."  
  
"Who?!!"  
  
"Kokoro! I never completely understood her until now!" shouted Robert angrily. He didn't even know these people and they...? Wait. He didn't know them and he tried to kill them and they still cared about him, at least a little bit. So why was he...? "Lately I've been thinking..." he mumbled. "What'll happen to her? Kokoro doesn't know who or even what she is. It's almost as if I know more about her than she does..."  
  
"I've been in that position before," laughed Bit. "It's a strange feeling... I can relate."  
  
"That kid said she wasn't human... but she can't be Zoidian or organoid either, so what is she?" Robert asked himself.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Harry, promise me you'll still be here when I come back," murmured Nanase, continuing to fire at the Zabats.  
  
"What?" asked Harry.  
  
"Promise!"  
  
"Okay, but where are you going?!" he shouted, concerned.  
  
"You'll see." The Dibison stopped altogether, taking more hits.  
  
"Nanase, what are you-" started Harry. He watched as a light flew out of the Dibison straight through some of the Zabats. "...Nanase?" he said quietly as the light flew into the Whale King, which shook from the impact. "Is that you, is that your true form or what?" He laughed nervously. "If you come back, I'll be here. So you better come back. Please."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
Faye could feel the Whale King shake as her Zoid slowly walked up to the Whale King's entrance, its mouth. Her Salamander (like a big Pteras Striker) faltered for a moment and then ran forward to take off. Just as she was about to reach the opening, the huge transport Zoid lifted off of the ground shakily.  
  
The Whale King tottered as it rose. It was too much for most organoids to handle- obviously Nanase was having a problem. "Come on, Nanase, get out of there!" shouted Harry.  
  
The Whale King began to fall back down to the sand beneath. From such a great height, it leaned, the mouth much more downward than its tail.  
  
Faye screamed as her Salamander slid out of the Whale King and tumbled to the ground. It crashed loudly soon after, kicking up sand everywhere.  
  
From his Zoid, Harry couldn't see anything. The last thing he had seen was the Pteras-like Zoid falling, and then dust was everywhere, blocking his view. He could turn his Black Horn around and blindly run to safety, but he'd be breaking his promise.  
  
He'd still be here when she came back... And she WOULD come back. "Come on, Nanase, I'm still here!" As the dust began to clear, Harry could see that the Whale King was still falling. It was getting closer to the ground, so closer... "Please.... I'm still here..."  
  
Inside the Whale King, Nanase sighed. What was happening now? She needed to get that Whale King out of there, disable it so they couldn't fight. But now it was falling and she couldn't stop it, but why? She had it pretty well under control until the pilots had started contradicting her commands with the controls, but even now, when they had stopped out of fear, she couldn't get it back under control...  
  
She started to panic.  
  
*Dan and Nanase Cloud laughed as they walked through the forest surrounded the Wind Colony. They kissed quickly. They had all they wanted now; a great home, a wonderful kid, and each other. It was all they had ever wanted and all they needed.  
  
"Well, tomorrow's our Bit's seventh birthday," commented Nanase as they made their way to the pond Bit liked to play at. He was at school, though, so they hadn't brought him. "He still wants those Zoid models, doesn't he?" she laughed.  
  
Her husband nodded. "Yeah... kids these days. Ah well, he'll probably do really well at Zoid Academy since he's so interested."  
  
"Mmhmm." They walked along the pond, side by side. "Actually... I don't think there are any that he doesn't have," chuckled Nanase.  
  
"I guess having two of some would let him use the parts to build his own?" suggested Dan. Nanase laughed again. "He got his optimism from you."  
  
"And his handsomeness from you," answered Dan. They laughed together and Nanase rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. "I've been thinking... do you want to have another kid? I think it would be a good experience for Bit, teach him some responsibility."  
  
Dan shrugged. "I guess we could. It would be nice to have another kid. Could you imagine the look on Bit's face if we did, and it was a girl?"  
  
Nanase laughed. "He'd be horrified! A little sister isn't something he'd want, but a little brother, yes. Though I wouldn't mind having a girl."  
  
"Especially if she's sweet like you."  
  
"What would we name her, or him, if we decided to have another child?" asked Nanase quietly. The forest was so quite and peaceful in the spring, the perfect place to talk.  
  
"Oh, I don't know... I think it should be a spur-of-the-moment name."  
  
"Like Bit's?"  
  
"Hehe, I guess so. It's more fun that way."  
  
"Mm... that would be interesting to do again." Nanase stopped and looked at Dan sadly. "Do you think the other kids at school make fun of his name?" she asked sincerely.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Nanase," smiled Dan. "You should hear some of the names of Bit's friends. I really doubt it. He'd be more fit to make fun of THEIRS."  
  
She laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We should be getting home, Bit's school dismisses soon."  
  
"His teacher-" asked Dan, "-you were saying something about her earlier?"  
  
"Oh, Mrs. Kokoro Altiel had three kids, you know? Well... she passed away. They say her husband, Scott, was with the Backdraft, and something about her two older boys..."  
  
"Does Bit know?"  
  
"During school, Dan. Mrs. Altiel died during SCHOOL."  
  
"The heck?!!"  
  
"Dan!"  
  
"Sorry, but it must've been really traumatizing. I can't believe it..."  
  
"Her youngest son was in that class. THAT would have been even more traumatizing. Can you imagine?" Nanase sighed. "I'm sure someone, probably us, would've readily took him in for a while, but he disappeared... that's how traumatizing it must have been."  
  
"Poor kid. Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," said Dan, sighing. "We can just hope that Bit never runs away and that we'll always be there for him. Right?"  
  
Nanase nodded. "Okay, we better get going before Bit gets home." The two made their way out of the forest. They weren't far from the pond when Dan heard a groan.  
  
"Rrrr...."  
  
"What was that?" asked Nanase.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think it sounded like an organoid..." he muttered. "Do you think it could be Zeke? He hasn't been seen since Auron died (peacefully and happily and naturally), and that was a while ago."  
  
Nanase shrugged. "Maybe, so let's go see."  
  
They jogged in the direction of the quite growls, growing louder Soon they entered a clearing. "I didn't know this was here," said Nanase quietly. The stepped forward, only to have the way blocked by a very angry sounding organoid.  
  
"Rrr!" growled the silver organoid loudly.  
  
"What are you protecting..." Dan asked himself. The organoid looked at him strangely. Yes... this was a descendant of Van Flyheight and Fiona. "Zeke?" asked Dan. "Is that-"  
  
"Dan, look," said Nanase. Another organoid, this one golden, stood nearby. It cocked its head at her. Neanase stepped out from behind her husband and reached out at it. The organoid nervously took a step backwards. She turned back around to see that Zeke was gone. "Oh, Dan, what's going on here?"  
  
"Nanase, you might want to come over here..." muttered Dan. "Come look at this...I think we're gonna have a little sister for Bit after all."  
  
"Huh?" Nanase walked over to her husband. "What the?!!" she asked. "Oh my... is she... dead?!!"  
  
The golden organoid ran over and looked down with the couple. They were staring at a girl who looked about a year younger than Bit, with curly, completely white hair and very pale skin. "I hope not," answered Dan, "But it sure looks like it." The girl was laying motionless on the grass, except for the wind ruffling her hair. The organoid cocked its head. Who was this, exactly? It was connected to her in some way, but... how?  
  
There was only one way to find out for sure. As Dan and Nanase turned around to look behind them to see where Zeke went, the organoid glowed and fused with her lifeless body.  
  
"Ooh..." muttered the girl. She crawled onto her hands and knees and tried to stand up. "Where...?"  
  
"Whoa!" shouted Dan. "Shee, her hair changed colors."  
  
Nanase was too shocked to say anything. The girls eyes were a bright green, and her hair was no longer white- it was now blonde, like Bit's. She was still incredibly pale.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Dan, bending down to pick her up.  
  
"Who...?"  
  
"Shush, it'll be alright," said Nanase quickly. "What's your name?"  
  
"Kitai [ :) couldn't think of anythin' better]," she said. "I mean, Rukki- I just don't know anymore ..."  
  
"How about Kylie?" suggested Dan, mixing the two together.  
  
"A spur-of-the-moment name," murmured Nanase. "We'd better get home. It's getting a little late, Bit'll be worried. We should... take her to the doctor tomorrow morning..."  
  
"Bit...? My brother, right?" asked Kylie weakly.  
  
"Huh?" asked Nanase. "What...?"  
  
"Okay, that's enough, just... try to get some rest." Nanase looked at Dan with a questioning look as he said this. They walked silently back to the Wind Colony...*  
  
Harry watched in surprise as the Whale King stopped falling only a few meters from the ground. He smiled as it slowly landed correctly, then disabled. A light flew out and landed next to the Dark Horn. "Nanase!" cried Harry. He opened the cockpit and jumped out. "What happened, are you okay?"  
  
Nanase looked at him strangely. "You're still here!"  
  
"Of course I am," laughed Harry. "I promised."  
  
Nanase nodded and started to walk over to her Dibison. She smiled as Harry called after her,  
  
"Hey wait, you're arrested, remember?"  
  
She laughed. "Am I? Well, I'm leaving now. If you want to come you can." She turned around and grinned. "I have to ask someone a few questions."  
  
"I was supposed to be back at headquarters hours ago..." murmured Harry to himself. "Okay, I'm coming," he added quickly.  
  
Nanase smiled. Good.  
  
"Nanase!"  
  
"Wha-" Nanase looked over to the wreck of the Salamander, and there was Faye, running over. "Faye? What are you doing here? You're STILL with the Backdraft?"  
  
"Not for long."  
  
"Welcome to the club."  
  
They laughed as Harry watched, perplexed. So Nanase HAD been part of the Backdraft, but now she wasn't. Good. He still had to arrest her, of course, but that gave him an excuse to find out more about her.  
  
"Did you find out your real name?" asked Faye quietly. Nanase laughed. "Kitai. I mean, Rukki. Well, for a while I thought it was Kylie... but I'm not sure anymore."  
  
"Okay... Kylie it is, then," suggested Faye. "So do you really still have a family?!!"  
  
"Yeah... I have a brother, Bit Cloud... or so I thought."  
  
"I wish I had one... but I don't. None of us do, except you."  
  
"But you have each other?"  
  
"No, everyone else got out of the Backdraft after you left two years ago... which makes me wonder, why did you?"  
  
"Because I learned that others DO care about me... Such as my brother, someone who saved my life without even knowing who I am, and..."  
  
"Kylie?" asked Harry. "You told me your name was Nanase."  
  
"It was! I thought it was!" shouted Kylie. "When I was with the Backdraft..."  
  
"But you're not anymore, right?"  
  
"Yes, no, I don't know, okay?!!" yelled Kylie. "Why is it any of your business?!!"  
  
"Because I saved you from that black Genosaurer, and I've been trying to find out who this 'Kylie' is for two whole years now."  
  
"Kylie?" asked Faye. "Are you okay?"  
  
Kylie plopped down onto the ground weakly. "Just tell me... where's my brother? Where's Bit? What's going on?!!"  
  
***  
  
"Do I know you?" asked Bit as Robert walked back to his Zoid, determined as ever to save his friend.  
  
"How should I know?" asked Robert. "I knew a lot of people, but... did you live in the Wind Colony?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So did I. You're Bit Cloud, right? We went to the same school for a while, I guess. Lessee.... You're an only child, right?"  
  
"No, I have a sister."  
  
"Not from what I remember... How old is she?"  
  
"A year younger than me."  
  
"Then I must not know you, because-"  
  
"Wait," said Bit. "You're Robert Altiel, right?"  
  
"Yeah," said Robert. Altiel?!! He couldn't stand the Altiels! They were all idiots, mainly focused on keeping the Backdraft under their control! And yet, strangely, he and Cid were both in that darn family. "But usually I go by the last name of Marron..."  
  
"Hey, that was the maiden name of my old teacher!" shouted Bit. "Cool! Oh, wait... I forgot..."  
  
"Yes, you did," muttered Robert. "So did I. I wanted to. Which is why I never made the connection... Kokoro was my mother's name, and she died... but Kokoro's way too young to be her, so..."  
  
"What's going on?" asked Leena quietly. "If your Kokoro has the same name as your mother, then..."  
  
"Dang it!" shouted Robert angrily. "I tried to forget everything about my true self when Kaiser found me, and in succeeding I completely forgot that Dr. Scott was my dad!!! I'm such an idiot... All these years...."  
  
"Sheesh, talk about a small world and a short memory," muttered Leena, sweat-dropping.  
  
"Yeah," said Bit. "Hey Leena, didn't Doc mention that his group of friends wasn't just Oscar and Dr. Layon?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"You know what they say, everyone is related to everyone else by six people or less."  
  
That explains a lot.  
  
***  
  
Con... fusing.... arghth! You understand what I meant when I said this gets a whole lot more confusing. It was kind of planned this way, Robert's family, I mean... Sheesh. Videogames seem to influence my writing a lot, especially Squaresoft ones, which really leave impressions on me. Robert an' Kokoro are like Sion and Dominique from PS2's "The Boutncer;" Eira was, of course, basically care-free and pink Seraphita from "Xenogears..." Another character soon to be introduced, who's not really a main character (yet) is kinda like Mint from Threads of Fate... and you might say that Kylie is a little bit like "Marle" (better known as Princess someone or other) from Chrono Trigger, because in the beginning you didn't know she was really Kylie.  
  
Oh, about the Kylie/Nanase/Kitai/Rukki thing... Rukki was the organoid's name and Kitai was the girl's. It confuses me, too. Don't worry... I'll try to clear up my confusing concepts at the end. Oh, BTW, the real Kitai, I feel pretty stupid... Earlier, I think in Shadows of the Past, I accidentally called you Audi. : ) Oopsies! I was under the impression that it was your name, not your way of saying goodbye! But then I took the time to read your biography. Sorry! Anywho, Audi really is a name, though. I saw it in a baby name book at my cousin's house before.  
  
This story- not just this one, but I mean, like, my whole little world and ALL the characters, whom I've become a little attached to- has expanded to four main stories in all and lots of history things that I've started.  
  
You notice that the boredom of not having the internet/cable gave me a whole lot of time to think. Enough ranting before I scare away any potential reviewers : ) I'm just sooo happy that I have the internet again!!!!! 


	11. Family Ties

Chapter XI: Family Ties  
  
"This is even more confusing than it used to be."  
  
Whee... more of my confusing story... if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in a review and I'll be happy to answer them (if I can). I think I've sorted everything out.  
  
***  
  
"Bit? I found your sister. I think."  
  
Bit looked down at the comlink before him as the Liger Zero X to see Harry Champ staring back at him. They were traveling back to New Helic City, having stupidly neglected to tell either Spring, Sylvia, or anyone else. Robert's Spino Snapper followed as best it could.  
  
"What..." asked Bit.  
  
"Well, aren't you going to thank me?" joked Harry.  
  
"Are you sure?!!"  
  
"It's Kylie, right? Or is it Nanase, Kitai, or Rukki?"  
  
"Y- yeah, it's Kylie...!" Bit smiled. He ignored the other names, except for Nanase. He knew that one well. Maybe Harry wasn't so bad after all. "Listen, I have something important to do right now, but meet me at New Helic City, okay?"  
  
"Right!" cried Harry. The comlink closed.  
  
"Bit?" asked Leena from behind him. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah..." sighed Bit. "I'm great."  
  
"Was that Harry again?"  
  
Bit nodded. "Right."  
  
"What did he want?"  
  
"I'll tell you later, we've got to get to the city and your dad first. Robert's counting on us to help him out, right?"  
  
***  
  
"Who are you?" asked Kokoro as she watched her new friend trying to get the Ultrasaurus to work. "And exactly how did I end up here if I was just in the Zoidian Guild's..."  
  
'Their headquarters was built around the Ultrasaurus wreck," he said, "after the Deathsaurer was finally defeated. For the second time. Some of the equipment was still operational, like the comlink systems... Hey!" A spark flew out of the control panel. "Well, not anymore."  
  
"Your name, I mean..."  
  
"Which one?" he laughed uneasily.  
  
"Err... your full name?"  
  
"Sephiroth Adrian Donovan, err, Marron Altiel, at your service. I think that's it. Or close to it... Surnames, nicknames aliases... I have way to many."  
  
"Huh?!!"  
  
"My real name's Adrian Altiel, but in the Backdraft I used Adrian Donovan. After I left I used Sephiroth so they couldn't track me down. Marron was my mother's maiden name," explained Sephiroth quickly.  
  
"Talk about a small world..."  
  
"Whaddaya mean?" asked Sephiroth.  
  
"My friend... Robert... his last name is Marron, or so it seems."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Let me get this straight," said Harry Champ as his comlink popped up on the Dibison's monitor. "You're real name is Kylie, but when you were with the Backdraft the only name you knew was Nanase, which is your mother's name...? Am I right so far?"  
  
Kylie nodded silently. She decided to leave out the other, way more confusing part. she had no idea what was going on, exactly. If she wasn't human, wasn't organoid, and wasn't even really a human organoid as she had thought, then what was she?  
  
"Right," continued Harry. "And Bit's your brother, and Faye was a friend you met when you were in the Backdraft." Another nod. "When you were in the Backdraft they were performing various experiments on children. Too 'create' the perfect Zoid pilot?" Nod. "Both you and Faye were experimented on?" Hesitation, but still a nod. "And if I heard right, there were others. Vega Obscura, Taro and Sayo Murata, Yoko Minobe, my deceased cousin Eira, Adrian Donovan, and someone else who you never really met." Solemn nod. "Hey! Don't you go crying on me-"  
  
"Listen, you know pretty much all of it now, so let's just shut up and get to New Helic!" cried Kylie, not wanting to discuss it any longer.  
  
"Okay, okay... sorry..."  
  
It wasn't long before the city was in sight.  
  
***  
  
"DANG!!!!" The Orudios braced itself against the amazing power of the legendary Deathstinger. This was harder than Neos had expected. Who was the pilot...? For someone to have that much anger and still be able to control such a powerful Zoid... sheer skill. He had underestimated what the Deathstinger could do with someone who wasn't a Zoidian behind the controls. But how could he know that it wasn't a Zoidian? Just yesterday he or any of his comrades would have very willingly gotten into its cockpit.  
  
The Deathstinger backed away quickly as the Orudios stood up, spreading its wings. It faltered and fell, struggling to remain standing.  
  
"Neos!" shouted its pilot. "Tell me... how does it feel to be pushed around like this? How does it feel, knowing that you're not the most powerful Zoid pilot around?!! HA!!! No matter how long it takes, I'll prove that I'm not a weakling! I'm NOT too small to be dangerous!!!"  
  
"I killed you," murmured Neos. "You're just a kid... I killed you... you're dead! You're only a dang human! No human could pilot a Zoid that well!!!"  
  
"Aw... thanks."  
  
"It wasn't a compliment. I'm not wasting my time here anymore." The Orudios turned around and began to trot away.  
  
"Where the heck do you think you're going?!!" shouted Eira. "It doesn't matter how good of a Zoid pilot I am or what Zoid I acquire, does it?!! You'll never acknowledge the fact that I'm better than you!!! You'll never accept it!!!"  
  
"I won't fight a kid," said Neos. The Orudios stopped momentarily. "I should be killing one of the Chosen, not you."  
  
"How can he still not fight..." Eira asked herself. The Deathstinger twitched restlessly. "If he won't fight me, then why did I wake this thing up... dang... I don't get it."  
  
The Orudios turned around. "Well... who can pass up a chance like this...? I can defeat both the Deathstinger and a complete idiot in one fight." Neos shrugged.  
  
Eira raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand... just a moment ago you... his Zoid can barely walk... why risk his life like that...?"  
  
"Why risk anything?" asked Neos. "Why risk your family's reputation and ties or the whole city of Guyglos, just so you can prove that you're worth something?"  
  
"I think I can answer that." The Deathstinger snapped a claw as two figures appeared in front of it.  
  
"Akira?" asked Neos quietly. "Who's that kid...?"  
  
"Because I understand that no one is too small to be dangerous."  
  
"What are you doing here?" shouted Eira as she saw that the two figures were a young boy, her age, and Akira. "You told me you'd let me do this my way!"  
  
"It seems that everyone's in cahoots with somebody else..." murmured Neos.  
  
"Oh, I understand it very well," continued the boy. "I'm not as young as I look. I'm older than everyone else on the face of this dang planet!"  
  
"How is that possible?" asked Akira, trying to get away from him. It was useless- she was having a very hard time moving, much less running.  
  
The green Liger Zero X appeared next to the Orudios again, Hitoshi's Zoid on the other side. "He speaks the truth," murmured Hitoshi. "Because HE killed Faye..."  
  
"Which means..." put in Ayumi, "That we haven't been following an old geezer all this time, but just a young kid!"  
  
"Shut up," said Hitoshi. "He's neither. He's part of the worst race in this universe that you could imagine..."  
  
"What? A Shadow?"  
  
"No.... a human."  
  
***  
  
"What's going on?" asked Sylvia. She and Spring looked across the gorge. The battle had suddenly stopped.  
  
"Look..." mumbled Spring. "That's him."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"That's him... the enemy we've been fighting all these years. I can tell. But I've felt this way before... in the presence of someone else..."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
"So that's Prozen's 'successor,' the great Kaiser Kage, huh?" asked Neos. "Ha! I bet even Eira could beat him in a Zoid battle."  
  
"Do you wish to see?" asked the boy, turning to the Orudios.  
  
"No!" shouted Hitoshi quickly. "No, no he doesn't!"  
  
"Neos..." continued the boy. "It seems that being around humans for so long has changed you. It used to be that you wished to destroy them all, but now... you've changed."  
  
"For the better," laughed Neos.  
  
"I can still remember when you killed Van Flyheight," said the boy, grinning evilly. "Even though we were related, you can't imagine the satisfaction of knowing he was dead. It was bliss!!! But then Fiona had to interfere before I could get to their child. HA!!!" he shouted, throwing a fist in the air. "I should've killed her while I had the chance! Then none of this would ever have happened. I wouldn't have lost you, my most valuable asset, to these mere humans... But no. It's too late now. The ten Chosen still live. They still prevent my activating Zoids Eve! You know the only way that can happen."  
  
"Fiona made it so that all ten must be present in order for the Eve to activate again..." muttered Akira. "But it will also activate if all ten are killed."  
  
"However, if they die naturally that certain Chosen will be... replaced, you could say," shrugged Kage. "I used to believe that the organoid Shadow would be my perfect 'partner' to help me carry out my duty. But I was still young then. The only thing I need is the Ultimate X!!! And to get that, I must first destroy its pilot!!! HAHAHA!!!" He cleared his throat. "Observe. I have the power to control weaker Zoids as I have the power to control Zoidians and their counterparts, organoids, along with most other beings except for those darn humans.."  
  
He disappeared.  
  
The Deathstinger twitched again, still restless. Akira looked around. So... he was gone. She was sure that he was going to kill her or something. After all, he HAD said that she was a Chosen, so...?  
  
"That wasn't very scary..." muttered Neos. He laughed nervously. "I guess maybe he isn't all-powerful as I originally took him to be."  
  
"You're wrong," murmured Hitoshi. "Despite what just happened, he is a very powerful human. Very... strange in his presentation, but still very powerful. He yearns to destroy all of mankind, along with all Chosen. And, most likely, he will succeed."  
  
"He said to observe," said Ayumi thoughtfully. "So... observe what, exactly?"  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
Robert sighed as his Spino Snapper followed Bit Cloud's Zoid, the supposed Ultimate X. He'd been trying to kill them only a few hours ago, so why were they helping him? Even after they learned of Kokoro, you'd think they'd be hostile towards him. These Chosen... they were so strange. But they were only human, like him. Unlike Kokoro.  
  
Who was that young boy, anyways? The voice was strangely familiar...  
  
"Hey, Robert!" shouted Leena Toros. "We're almost there! But I don't know if Dad'll be able to tell you anything..."  
  
"Sure he will," said Robert, fidgeting.  
  
"Unless he's still in a coma..." Leena muttered under her breath. With all the confusing action, she'd almost completely forgotten about Dr. Toros for a while. Now, well, she was beginning to become very worried. She still didn't even know who had done this or why.  
  
She also remembered that she had seen a few other interesting things on the news when she learned of the tragedy. That same day Jack Sisco and his teammates, Chris and Kelly, had been attacked by a green Liger Zero X as well. She had heard that earlier that morning they had installed a new weapons system on Chris's Lightning Saix- if they hadn't, they'd all be dead. They, too, had been hospitalized. Who was doing this?  
  
"You okay, Leena?" asked Bit, breaking the silence. "You've been pretty quiet lately. It's just not like you..."  
  
"I'm okay," smiled Leena. He was so caring at times. "I was just thinking."  
  
"We're here," said Robert, off the subject. Leena's thoughts scattered and she nodded. "Good," she said.  
  
The two Zoids stopped just outside the city and their pilots jumped out. "Robert?" asked Leena again.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I just thought you'd want to know that love always finds a way."  
  
"You really believe that?" asked Robert.  
  
"Don't you?"  
  
"It didn't work for Harry Champ."  
  
***  
  
Speaking of Harry, their Zoids had arrived at the city as well. The Salamander landed behind the Dibison and Dark Horn, and Faye jumped out in an effort to catch up with Kylie, who was walking rather fast. "Hey! Wait up, will ya?!"  
  
"Sorry," said Kylie, slowing down. She turned to wait for Faye and Harry. "It's been so long... I really missed him."  
  
"And I'm gonna lose my job if I don't hurry," muttered Harry.  
  
"What was that?" asked Kylie.  
  
"Oh, never mind."  
  
As the three walked into town they remained silent for a while. "I wonder... what am I gonna do after this is all over...?" asked Faye quietly. "I have nowhere to go..."  
  
"I'm sure Dr. Toros wouldn't mind having another helping hand with the Blitz team, especially after Brad left," suggested Harry.  
  
"Where, exactly, are we supposed to meet them?" asked Kylie quickly.  
  
"The hospital," muttered Harry as they walked aimlessly down the streets. There were few people out this early.  
  
For some odd reason Harry felt quite a few stares from the people in the street. Had something happened while he was gone? 


	12. Observe

Chapter XII: "Observe"  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"What is there to observe?" muttered Ayumi Kroger, yawning. "We've been sitting here for five minutes in silence. It's getting quite annoying. Why don't we just leave...?"  
  
"Because our Zoids aren't responding to our commands," answered Hitoshi.  
  
"It's probably just that rarehertz thing I've heard so much about," argued Ayumi, flipping her hair impatiently.  
  
"No, it's not," said Hitoshi angrily. "This has happened before-"  
  
***  
  
"Faye, how did you get involved in the Backdraft, anyways?" asked Harry Champ as they approached the hospital quickly.  
  
"What?" asked Faye. She had been thinking. "Oh... how? It just happened, I guess," she lied.  
  
"Huh, well, can you tell me what kind of experiments they-"  
  
"Heck, no," said Faye, frowning. "It's... too traumatizing."  
  
"Whatever," groaned Harry. He wasn't going to have a job for very long. If he could get information about what the Backdraft had been doing and give it to the ZBC, his job would be saved. At this rate he wasn't going to be very successful.  
  
They walked into the building, Kylie jogging ahead.  
  
***  
  
"So tell us about it," urged Ayumi. "I need something to do, anyways."  
  
"Shut up, Ayumi," muttered Neos. "If you want to know then just leave him alone."  
  
"Since when did you care," scoffed their comrade.  
  
From below Akira scowled. She still couldn't move... this sucked. Sheesh. And none of her "friends" could help her because they were stuck in their Zoids. It seemed that the Deathstinger, as well, wasn't responding. He said that he could control weaker Zoids... and the four Zoids definitely weren't weak. Maybe he meant weak organoids? For all four had one- Ambient in the Deathstinger, Twilight in the Orudios, Kurai.... but the Liger Zero X had no organoid. By a "weak Zoid" he must have meant anything weaker than the Deathsaurer itself. Or, perhaps, that had a pilot.  
  
Pilots could be considered weaknesses. The Deathsaurer didn't have one and never had.  
  
A silver organoid appeared beside her. "Huh?" asked Akira. "Oh, it's just you... hmm. Trinity, go get my Zoid...!"  
  
***  
  
"I can't wait any longer," mumbled Bit as he stood outside of the Doc's hospital room. He stepped in front of a nurse who was walking by. "Okay, Nurse Joy, tell me: is Dr. Toros out of his coma or not?!!"  
  
"Nurse Joy?" asked the girl. "I'm Nurse Jenny. Who's Nurse Joy?"  
  
"I thought it was Officer Jenny and Nurse..." began Bit.  
  
"You watch comics too much," said Nurse Jenny, glaring at him.  
  
"Oh! You found his room!" cried Leena as she came down the hall, Robert sheepishly trailing behind her. "So?!! Is Dad awake?!!"  
  
"Mr. Toros is your father?" asked Jenny, almost dropping her tray of medication.  
  
"Yeah, so what?"  
  
"Tell that idiot to stop breaking all the Zoid models we keep for the children here to play with," she said angrily. "It's getting really annoying."  
  
"You mean he's okay?!!" shouted Leena.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes," mumbled Jenny. "That Zoid pilot probably had good reason to attack him like that."  
  
"Hey!" shouted Leena. "My father's a good man! Don't you-"  
  
"I'm just a nurse," smiled Jenny innocently. "My opinion doesn't count."  
  
"Hey, let's calm down," said Bit, stepping between them. "We just want to see him, is that alright?"  
  
"As long as you convince him to take his antibiotics or let me sedate him," muttered Jenny.  
  
"I hope this doesn't effect the hospital bill," mumbled Leena as Jenny opened the door to Dr. Toros' room.  
  
Bit looked inside to see Dr. Toros happily playing with some Zoid models. One of them broke. Bit laughed. "That's so typical," he said.  
  
"Dad! shouted Leena, running into the room. "Oh, I was so worried!" she cried.  
  
"Oh, hello, Leena," said Dr. Toros, oblivious to the fact that he'd been in a coma for a while.  
  
"Mr. Toros!" shouted Nurse Jenny. "You broke another one?!!"  
  
"Oh, hello there, Jenny," groaned Dr. Toros. "So nice to see you..."  
  
"Okay, mister!" shouted Jenny. "What've you done this time, besides breaking that Redler?!! Don't tell me you've been-"  
  
Bit laughed. "I'm going to look around, okay?"  
  
"As long as you're nothing like your father..." mumbled Jenny.  
  
"He's not MY dad, too," said Bit.  
  
"Why should I care..."  
  
Bit walked outside hastily, looking around. Where were they? Robert walked out after them. "Who're you looking for?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, no one in particular..."  
  
"Your sister?" asked Robert.  
  
"How did you know?!!"  
  
"Because one, you don't have one, at least by blood, and two, I saw somebody who resembled you in the lobby."  
  
"Thanks!" cried Bit, shooting off. But he DID have a sister... by blood... so...?  
  
Robert laughed. It was a nice feeling, helping others.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Are you sure we should be WAITING?" asked Kylie, fidgeting in her seat.  
  
"Don't tell me you three are here to see Mr. Toros, TOO?!!" asked a nurse as she walked into the room. Her green eyes flared at the mention of his name.  
  
"What?" asked Faye.  
  
"You mean someone else is here to see him?!!" shouted Kylie.  
  
"Hey, this is a hospital, quiet down or you'll wake all the patients," muttered the nurse. "My name is Jenny. Yes, three others... his daughter and two friends of hers."  
  
"Two friends?" asked Kylie. "I knew Leena was with him, but-"  
  
"I'll bring you to the room if you'll talk some sense into that old geezer."  
  
"Would you?" cried Kylie. "Oh, Jenny, you're the best!"  
  
"It's NURSE Jenny to you," muttered Jenny. She blushed. "But thanks. Oh, I completely forgot!" she cried. "I have to bring Jack his tea or he'll-"  
  
"Jack?" asked Harry. "Jack SISCO?!!"  
  
"Didn't you hear?" asked Jenny. "He and his teammates were also attacked by a green Liger Zero X. You guys wait here! I'll be right back! If I feel like it, of course. Being a nurse is a harder job than I expected." She grabbed a hat from the counter and put it on, covering most of her short blue hair. "Don't go anywhere!"  
  
"Well, now we have a reason to stay here," said Faye happily. "Don't you feel so accomplished?!!" Always so cheerful.  
  
"I didn't know Jack Sisco drank tea."  
  
"Hey!" cried Faye cheerfully. "Isn't that the winner of the Royal Cup?!!" She jumped up from her seat, grinning.  
  
"The winner of the...?" mumbled Kylie. She turned around. Yes, she was right. "Bit!"  
  
"Kylie!"  
  
"So that's Bit Cloud." Faye smiled to herself. Nanase, or better yet Kylie, was so lucky. She still had a family. She still had friends who cared about her. Faye didn't.  
  
Bit hugged Kylie, smiling. He was so glad to have found her again... but so confused... "Kylie?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Yes...?"  
  
"So tell me... what happened that day...?"  
  
Kylie pulled back and smiled up at him. "I dunno... some things aren't meant to be explained, I guess. I woke up back in the ruins, but that's all I know..."  
  
Oh well, thought Bit. At least his sister was safe. "C'mon," he said. "Let's go back to Dr. Toros' room and see how he's doing."  
  
It was a very quick reunion, but still meaningful. Kylie decided not to tell Bit anything else for the time being.  
  
"I've gotta go to headquarters..." mumbled Harry, heading for the front door. His job here was done.  
  
"Harry?" asked Kylie.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks..."  
  
Later Nurse Jenny walked back into the lobby. She glared. "Where'd they go?!! Sheesh!!!"  
  
"Temper, temper."  
  
Jenny turned around. "Ahh!" she screamed, falling to the floor. She jumped back up. "Stop scaring me like that, Yoko!" she cried. "Do you know how close I am to...?"  
  
The man laughed. His black eyes shone. "Always so disagreeable."  
  
"D... do you know where he is?" asked Jenny hopefully.  
  
"Who, Taro?" asked Yoko. "Of course I do! I know a lot of things. I can't tell you now, though. Wait just a little longer."  
  
"Hmm..." muttered Jenny as he walked out the front door. "He's not acting like he usually does... I wonder what's wrong." She shrugged. "HA!!! Finally, I can quit this horrid job! No more playing 'Nurse Jenny!!!!' " She stopped in thought. "Hmm... I think I'll go yell at Mr. Toros some more. It's so refreshing!!!" Clapping, she ran off in the opposite direction.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the Core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
"I'm observing already!!!" shouted Ayumi. "Dang, I can't take this anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 It's too quiet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DANGDANGDANG- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Ayumi, shut up."  
  
"Shut up yourself, Neos! Can't you tell I'm-"  
  
"You know, I don't really care."  
  
"Go to... HA! Something's happening with the Deathstinger!" she said happily.  
  
"Don't be so cheerful," said Hitoshi skeptically. "It's not like you."  
  
"I'm surprised you even know who I am, you're so caught up in yourself," mumbled Ayumi under her breath.  
  
"So are you," mumbled Hitoshi.  
  
The Deathstinger stood up and waved its tail a little. "...huh?" asked Eira, waking up from her nap. "Ambient, what're you doing? Stop it... WHOA!!!" The ancient Zoid lurched forward, opening the cockpit and unlocking the restraints. Eira flew out. "DANG!!!! My leg... THAT KILLS!!!" she shouted, sitting back up. "Ambient! What the heck...?"  
  
"Took Kage long enough," laughed Neos. "Serves her right. He he..."  
  
"Ooh..." mumbled Eira. "If you fire at me, Neos, I'm gonna... dang, my leg. It kills soooooooooooooo much... ugh... it almost hurts too much to talk. Ambient, why did you do that?"  
  
The red organoid flew out the Deathstinger and looked down at her almost mockingly. Ambient seemed to grin as he whacked Eira back down to the ground with his tail. "HEY!!!" shouted the girl weakly. "What was that for?!!"  
  
Neos laughed. "Looks like he was only following her orders to get to the Deathstinger. Oh, wait, this isn't good..."  
  
Ambient turned back into a white light and flew into the Deathstinger one last time. In a few seconds it was surrounded by a pink cocoon. "In this case..." murmured Eira. "Pink DOESN'T make everything better." Her head fell back onto the sand.  
  
"AMBIENT'S EVOLVING THE DEATHSTINGER?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Hitoshi.  
  
"Is she unconscious?" asked Neos.  
  
"For the better..." muttered Ayumi. "Or not. Our Zoids won't move, and Akira can barely move at all, so when Trinity comes back with the Puffer thing Eira would be our only chance to occupy the Deathstinger or whatever it turns into. But now that she's in Dreamland for a while, this is hopeless."  
  
***  
  
"Spring!" cried Sylvia, turning to her friend. "Go back to the Hover Cargo and wake up Jamie. Head for New Helic City and get Bit!!!"  
  
Spring nodded quickly and ran off. "It kills me to do this, but when that thing comes out of its cocoon they're gonna need a lot of help without control of their Zoids," said Sylvia. "Dang. I just hope I get to see Adrian again." She gasped. "Oh wait!!! Twilight's in the Orudios, so...!!!" Sylvia sighed. "Ah well... I just know that thing'll be able to use Shadow mode. That won't be good."  
  
Dive, Chosen... Dive and save Zi from it's inevitable fate...  
  
***  
  
Didja like? Ahh! Too many characters! Ah well... that's okay. I just went through an I-hate-my-story-spasm, but I went over these chapters so I like it again : ) 


	13. aka, Aritficial Intelligence

Chapter XIII: a. k. a, Artificial Intelligence  
  
"Ha!!! Now, all we need is a Gravity Cannon."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Ha!!!" shouted Sephiroth Adrian Donovan. "Now, all we need is a Gravity Cannon."  
  
"Really?" cried Kokoro. "So if we find one of those, this thing can destroy the Deathstinger?"  
  
He cringed. "Actually... I don't know how to pilot huge Zoids like this. And it needs some power. I mean, its been dormant for so long that..."  
  
"Spare me the details," sighed Kokoro. "I'm just glad we were able to fix it this much."  
  
"Listen, Kokoro," said Sephiroth. "I know you really want to find your friend... So if you wanna take my Gul Tiger while I figure out where I can get a Cannon, go for it."  
  
"Really...?" asked Kokoro. "I've never piloted a Zoid before."  
  
He sweat-dropped. "Ah well, that's too bad..."  
  
"But I can try."  
  
"Just remember, he may not let you pilot him..." mumbled Sephiroth. "The Gul Tiger is an X, so he's quite a personality. Very impatient. But if he likes you, it'll make it a whole lot easier to pilot the Tiger."  
  
"Again, spare me the details!" cried Kokoro. "Are you sure I can...?"  
  
"Yeah," said Sephiroth. "I'm gonna be on the Ultrasaurus for a while, so why not?"  
  
"Thanks," sighed Kokoro. "You know, I should introduce you two sometime. You'd get along really well."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"You're both technical geniuses!" cried Kokoro. "Okay, I'm gonna go now! Do the coms work again?"  
  
Sephiroth nodded.  
  
"Right, then if I have any trouble with the Gul Tiger, I'll call you. Thanks again!"  
  
Kokoro ran off before he could tell her the Ultrasaurus' com number. Adrian chuckled to himself. "Sheesh... I wonder if she'll find him. I also wonder where Vivian and Sylvia are..."  
  
In a few seconds she ran back. "Where did you say you saw a Spino Snapper?"  
  
"Near New Helic..."  
  
***  
  
"Oh, that RAT!!!" cried Vivian angrily. "Kage resurrected the Deathstinger!!! I just knew that would happen..." She sighed as the Death Cat approached the ruins of Guyglos, then laughed. "Ha ha... it's so stupid. This is where I was created, and this is where I'll be destroyed, as well as where I'll destroy HIM!!! He might be able to control me, but that won't change anything..."  
  
Her idea was crazy, but it just might work. It had worked so many years ago for the Guardian Force, so surely it would work now. As the Death Cat ran to the center of the ruins it was passed by Sephiroth's Gul Tiger, which was swerving back and forth madly. "What the...?" she asked. "It can't be Adrian in the cockpit, he'd never drive like that..."  
  
***  
  
"Calm down, Gul Tiger!" cried Kokoro as it ran willy-nilly. "Come on! Gimmee a break! So I'm new at this..." It seemed to laugh as it stopped running and stood still. "Oh, come on!" cried Kokoro. "You're not being very helpful!"  
  
The Gul Tiger shot off again in a completely new direction. "Stop it, Gully!" cried Kokoro. He stopped. "Err... run towards New Helic, Gully." The X turned east and ran. "Oh, I think I figured it out..." mumbled Kokoro to herself. "He must like it when I call him 'Gully.' " she shrugged. "Huh. That's strange. Can't you go any faster, Gully?!!" she challenged.  
  
***  
  
"Dr. Toros?" asked Robert, waving a hand in front of the doctor's face. "Are you listening to me?!!"  
  
"Dr. Scott..." mumbled Toros, thinking for a moment. "Oh yes! Now I remember! A good man, until the Backdraft got to him... Ho ho! I should have added one of these to Leena's old Zoid..."  
  
"This is hopeless," muttered Robert. He was getting nowhere.  
  
"DAD!" shouted Leena, pulling the model of a Dibison out of his hands. "PAY ATTENTION!!!"  
  
Dr. Toros whined something childishly and Leena sighed, kneeling down beside him. "Now listen, Dad, if you want me to get you out of this hospital and far, far away from that Nurse Jenny, you'll help our friend Robert with his problem, okay?"  
  
"Listen, Leena, if he doesn't want to..." began Robert.  
  
"Dad's GOING to help you, and he's going to NOW," yelled Leena.  
  
"Control freak," muttered Robert.  
  
"Then again," Leena smiled sweetly, "He doesn't have to."  
  
"Hey, I take it back!" cried Robert.  
  
Dr. Toros stood up thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, he was a real stickler when it came to grammar," he laughed. "Though I suppose you could say he was a technical genius. Let's see... a little more than ten years ago his wife died. Her name was Kokoro Marron. He had... three sons, err, Robert, Cid, and Adrian..." He paused and paced across the room. "Hmm... he was very depressed about Kokoro... and he was simply crushed when his youngest son disappeared."  
  
Robert cringed.  
  
"So, when he learned that our old gang- Layon, Oscar, and I- were taking another year of college, just to learn about the new developments, he joined us. I did my term project thingy with him. It was an artificial intelligence system, and we called it CHAO, but then it disappeared... so we had to start over again with a new one, which was a heck of a lot better. When it was graded Scott decided he'd take it and modify it some more... What else... Ah, yes!!! Scott wrote his thesis paper on various aspects artificial intelligence. He believed he'd found a way to let the AI systems learn by themselves, not just repeat what we do in a Zoid cockpit. To give them more HUMAN characteristics, like emotions. Kind of like an organoid. Leena and I were going to go look at his new machine, but he disappeared. I was actually kind of disappointed..."  
  
As Dr. Toros ranted on, Robert sighed. "This doesn't help... I was hoping that he'd be able to tell me more about Kokoro... not my mother, but..." Leena shrugged. "We tried," she said.  
  
"Wait!" cried Dr. Toros. "To make our AI system even more realistic, he integrated it into a human-like body. Of course, it had never belonged to an actual person but was created out of- Robert, are you okay?!!"  
  
The color had left Robert's face. "Leena, please tell me he didn't just say what I THINK he said?" he asked.  
  
"I would, but I'd be lying," said Leena.  
  
Robert felt his forehead. "The heck... I've fallen in love with an artificial intelligence system. This can't be for real."  
  
Nurse Jenny walked into the room just in time to see the usually unmovable Robert collapse from shock. "What's with him?" she asked. "Oh, wait, I'm the Nurse. Mr. Toros, move those models off your bed and back where they belong!" she ordered, trying to think of what to do.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Harry, wait!!!"  
  
Harry Champ turned around to see Kylie running after him. She sighed in relief. "I forgot to say goodbye."  
  
"Oh..." he said. He didn't really want to, not yet.  
  
"Why are you blushing?" asked Kylie.  
  
"Err, it's just hot out," grinned Harry. "Goodbye, I've gotta-"  
  
Kylie leaned forward and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "I guess this is the last time I'll see you. Goodbye."  
  
"Kylie!" called Bit, standing in the hospital doorway. "Come on, I'm not ready to let you out of my sight again...!"  
  
"I'm coming!" shouted Kylie. "Sheesh... who does he think I am?!! Um, Harry, who do YOU think I- Huh? Harry..." Harry was already gone.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
"This is the last time I..." muttered Jenny, handing Dr. Toros his coffee with a glare.  
  
"Oh, you forgot the sugar," moaned Dr. Toros.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM?!!! YOUR SLAVE?!!!!!" yelled Jenny. "Will you stop giving me orders?!! I can't take it any more!!!" She stomped the ground angrily. "Go back to the hole you came from!!!"  
  
"DAD!!!" shouted Leena. "Again?!!! You two sure get along! Listen, we have to do something about-"  
  
"Leena, I'm fine. My head just hurts."  
  
She turned around and sighed, seeing that Robert was back up. "Oh, good. I thought you'd be out for a while."  
  
"I told you, I'm fine. I just want to go home, so goodbye."  
  
"Hey, wait!!!" shouted Leena. "Where-"  
  
"Why do you even care?!!" shouted Robert. "Sheesh, I was out to KILL you and your friends only a few minutes before you turned around and suddenly helped me!!!"  
  
Leena looked at the ground. "I'm not sure. I just wanted to help you find Kokoro... You looked so lonely."  
  
"I think I can deal with it," scoffed Robert. "I just wish you'd leave me alone, okay?"  
  
"Sorry," said Leena quietly. Jenny and Dr. Toros stared, perplexed.  
  
"Don't get me wrong," said Robert. "I really appreciate this. But I need to go some place familiar now."  
  
She nodded. "You reminded me of Bit. You were so determined to... never mind. I'll leave you alone now."  
  
"Sorry," mumbled Robert. "Tell Bit I said goodbye, and not to hold a grudge if I suddenly end up fighting you guys again just because Kaiser Kage told me to."  
  
"Huh..." said Jenny after he left. "I don't get it. He seemed so hopeful, and now... what happened in here, anyways? And who's this Kaiser person?"  
  
"He just found out that the girl he loves isn't even a girl, but an artificial intelligence system in an artificial body," said Leena.  
  
"So what?" asked Jenny. "Just because she's not human doesn't mean she can't love him back." She giggled.  
  
"I don't see what's so funny!" cried Leena.  
  
"You're all such complete idiots!" said Jenny, still laughing. "I'm going to talk some sense into him. Err, but not right now," she added, eyeing Dr. Toros as he continued to play with the models.  
  
"Uh, well, I guess we should get going now," shrugged Leena. "I wish I could help him further, but... Let's go home. We just have to find Bit."  
  
"What's with Robert?" asked Bit, walking into the room.  
  
"Oh! There you are," smiled Leena. "He's gonna go find Kokoro," she lied quickly. Leena felt bad about letting him down...  
  
"You were playing matchmaker, weren't you?" asked Bit sternly.  
  
"Not exactly... Huh? Kylie!!!" cried Leena. "Oh, wow!!! Where did you come from?!! I thought you were-"  
  
Kylie stepped out from behind her brother and shrugged. "I suppose nothing can keep me away from my onii-san," she suggested.  
  
"Well, good for you two," smiled Leena. "You know, I wonder where Leon went..."  
  
"Your brother?" asked Nurse Jenny. "He went to go see if Jack knows who did this to Mr. Toros, who obviously has no clue."  
  
"Can you-"  
  
"Don't say another word," sighed Jenny hopelessly. "When am I going to get rid of you people? Come on. one of you, please, stay with Dr. Toros."  
  
"Leena?" asked Bit.  
  
"Oh, fine..." mumbled Leena, not bothering to argue. Obviously Bit wasn't about to leave Kylie alone without a very reliable adult.  
  
"What are we waiting for?" asked Kylie. Bit grinned and they followed Jenny out of the room.  
  
***  
  
"I think I can trust you two not to do anything stupid," mumbled Nurse Jenny as she left Kylie and Bit at the door to Jack Sisco's room. "So if you don't mind, I'm going to go find your friend Robert."  
  
She jogged down the hallway, holding on to her nurse's hat. It wasn't every day you met the winners of the Royal Cup!!! It also wasn't everyday that you decided to help a total stranger just because you didn't want to be around a certain patient any more.  
  
Leaving the hospital, Jenny looked for any signs of a Spino Snapper. She did see, however, a few Zoids parked just outside of town. "Ooh!" she said as she ran out of the city and to them. "Nice, I've always wanted to see the Ultimate X up close and personal. Alright, Liger, I'm gonna borrow you for a moment, 'kay?"  
  
The huge Zoid looked down at her. "Okay, at the moment I'm just a Nurse, but you'll understand, right?" she asked. "I'm talking to a Zoid... sheesh." Jenny climbed into Liger's cockpit without him making any fuss. "Wow! This is so cool... okay."  
  
The girl pushed forward on Liger's controls and he obeyed. Quickly she turned on the sensors. "Ah, he hasn't gone very far," she said in approval. "Looks as though he's spotted me!" she added with delight. "Of course, I'm sure he's not stupid enough to fight."  
  
Sure enough, a comlink popped up. "Bit, Leena, will you just leave me alone?" asked Robert.  
  
"Unfortunately, Bit and Leena aren't here for our appointment." Jenny shrugged.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Robert skeptically.  
  
"Just to knock some sense into you," said Jenny. She laughed.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"You look like the determined kind, the guy who wouldn't care what his love really is!" cried Jenny. "You don't seem the type to just give up because she's not real, like you."  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"It's not quite the same reason as Leena's..." murmured Jenny. "I know someone who's not quite human, either, but does that stop me from looking for him?!! No way on Zi!!! I don't freaking care as long as I know he's alive!!!"  
  
"So-"  
  
"Hey, I'm not done," continued Jenny. "I'm not looking for him because he's like me, not entirely human anymore, or because he's my brother, but because I know that all that really matters is that we care for each other!!! That, because we're both alive, there's still a chance that we'll find each other! Even though I sometimes change my name to keep the Backdraft away, I don't think it would hinder or discourage him from finding me. As long as he's looking, I'm looking." She calmed down a bit. "Sometimes at night... I look up at the twin moons, and I know that somewhere Taro is, too. That somewhere Taro's thinking, 'Somewhere Sayo's looking at these moons, too.' And it keeps me going even when the chances are that I'll never see him again."  
  
"You're awfully persistent," said Robert. "But I think I understand what you're trying to say."  
  
"Yeah, you should never give up as long as you're still living. And I'm still alive, so I'm not gonna give up," said Sayo. "Nurse Jenny, phaw... what a stupid name. Thanks, Liger. Are you going to go back, kid?" she asked.  
  
"No," said Robert. "No... I'm gonna look for Kokoro."  
  
"Good for you!" shouted Sayo. "I, on the other hand, have to return this Liger. Most likely we'll meet again... so I won't say goodbye. I don't say goodbye to anyone. So never say goodbye to your Kokoro!"  
  
Robert laughed. "Alright. I won't."  
  
The LZX turned around and ran back towards New Helic City. Sayo sighed longingly. It had been so long... Taro was probably right under her nose THIS time. No matter what the time, the place, the anything, she'd keep looking. And she was sure that, after that pep talk, Robert would, too.  
  
Don't be afraid, Chosen... just dive and save Zoids Eve before it's too late...  
  
***  
  
Hmm.... Kokoro... is... basically.... a... ROBOT!!!!! Sheesh! Actually, I had this planned : ) Not that I'm trying to mentally hurt my characters or anything. I have this feeling that Robert's never gonna have the guts to tell Kokoro what she really is. 


	14. The Truth of the Tragedies

Chapter XIV: The Truth of the Tragedies  
  
"This is exactly what he said would happen. Why didn't I listen...?"  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Please!" shouted Leon Toros urgently, shaking the man as he laid in bed. "Please, can't you remember?!! Jack?"  
  
"Leon, stop!!" Bit Cloud ran into the room, followed by his little sister. He put a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Come on."  
  
"I'm sorry..." mumbled Leon pointlessly, pulling back. "But who could do this to my father...?"  
  
"Miss Kroger."  
  
They turned around to see the Tasker sisters standing in the doorway. "And we would appreciate it if you'd let Jack rest. He was hurt a lot more than we were, so... you get the picture."  
  
"Leon, you should go home," added Kylie. "You're a wreck."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," agreed Leon. "I'll let you guys and Leena take care of it. I really shouldn't have left Naomi alone at the base, since Brad left with you guys..."  
  
"He's still in the Hover Cargo, if you want him," said Bit.  
  
Leon shook his head and turned back to Kylie. "So you're Bit's sister?" he asked. She nodded.  
  
"Yeah..." murmured Kylie. I think so, she thought. I really hope so.  
  
"Pleased to meet you," sighed Leon. "I should go now..." He slowly stood up and walked over to the Tasker sisters. They parted and he walked through the doorway.  
  
Chris and Kelly walked over to Jack. "You okay?" asked Chris.  
  
Jack nodded as best he could. They smiled.  
  
"Wow!" cried Kylie, looking at his various injuries. "That girl sure didn't show you any mercy!"  
  
Jack laughed. "I'm guessing you're related to Bit."  
  
"Uh huh..."said Kylie.  
  
"What as her name again?" asked Bit.  
  
"Ayumi Kroger," answered Kelly.  
  
"I've never heard of her before..." muttered Bit.  
  
"I have," said Kylie bitterly. "I can't stand her..."  
  
Kelly laughed. "She's very bent on destroying all of her enemies. If you get on her bad side you're not likely to live peacefully for a while."  
  
Chris nodded. "Jack asked her to spare us, but she was beyond 'too mad.' That Liger... I'll never forget it."  
  
Kylie cringed. "It's a green Liger Zero X. Ayumi used to be part of the Backdraft, but she betrayed us on several occasions... she's the Count's niece, or something like that. I have a feeling that both Count and Commander Altiel have had the displeasure of fighting her before. Probably, they won't be around long enough to tell of it... Like Cid Marron, she's a mercenary slash assassin, but most people are practically too scared to hire her, so she turned to someone else..."  
  
"We now know that person's name is Yoko Minobe," put in Chris. "But that doesn't help us. See, ever since this incident Kelly and I have been bent on getting rid of HER just like she tried to kill Jack!!!"  
  
"Chris!!!" cried Kelly. "Calm down!!!"  
  
"And I'm sure you'll do a good job of it," said Bit. "We'd like to stay and talk some more, but we have to check Doc out of here before Nurse Jenny kills him."  
  
"Nurse Jenny?" asked Chris and Kelly.  
  
"You mean Nurse Sayo," said Jack weakly. "Don't you?"  
  
"The nurse with the green eyes, short blue hair, and that hat?" asked Kylie.  
  
"Yeah, Sayo," said Jack again. "Didn't you look at her name tag?"  
  
"No," said Bit, confused. "She said her name was..."  
  
***  
  
"Yawn..." muttered Ayumi, putting her feet up on the control panel. All this boringness had actually made her tired.  
  
Neos laughed from his Zoid.  
  
"WHAT?!!!"  
  
"I just noticed something," he laughed, watching Eira's limp form. "Her hair isn't in pigtails today. It's actually kind of pretty that way. Down, I mean."  
  
"So?" muttered Ayumi. "Dang, this boredom is getting to all of us. Hitoshi, isn't there anything we can do? Hitoshi?!! Come on, answer me!!!"  
  
"Faye..." mumbled Hitoshi.  
  
"Ayumi, he's asleep," laughed Neos.  
  
"Sheesh," muttered Ayumi. "This is so boring... I can't even call New Helic City's hospital and see if I-"  
  
"Stop trying to get revenge on petty humans like yourself and go for someone useful, like the Kaiser."  
  
"He IS human."  
  
"Not completely."  
  
"Where's Trinity with Akira's Zoid?!!" cried Ayumi, trying to change the subject.  
  
"I don't know... I think she told Trinity to do something else, too."  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
*"Faye, we have to get out of here," said Hitoshi, trying to persuade his friend to allow him to activate his Zoid. "For all we know-"  
  
"Listen, Hito..."  
  
"Hito?!!"  
  
"Hitoshi." Faye smiled at him as they sat in his Zoid. "We'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be fine. I've taken care of myself for as long as I can remember!"  
  
"Well..." mumbled Hitoshi. Always so cheerful! So confident! "I haven't, okay? I don't think we should sit here to be killed."  
  
"Then, fight in self defense," answered Faye, shrugging. "Then the Liger won't be able to destroy my village or kill either of us." She grinned. "If you can't destroy it, no one can!!!"  
  
"I'm not so sure..."  
  
They braced themselves as they watched those red eyes, which obviously belonged to a Zoid, grow closer as the trees rustled. "Please, Faye," cried Hitoshi. "This is our last chance to get out!"  
  
"Fine, activate your Zoid- but we're not running."  
  
Hitoshi sighed. "Kurai," he mumbled. The red organoid fused with his Zoid.  
  
"Does your Zoid have a name?" asked Faye happily.  
  
"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO DANG CHEERFUL?!!!!!" yelled Hitoshi. He closed his eyes to calm down. "No, it doesn't. Zoids don't need names anyways because they're not living things..."  
  
"But your organoid has one!" protested Faye. "What kind of sick ideas has this guy been drilling into your head?!! How could Zoids NOT be living things?!!! If they weren't living you could repair them after their Zoid cores are destroyed!!!"  
  
No response.  
  
"Hito?" asked Faye. "You might want to get ready to dodge to the left."  
  
"Huh?" asked Hitoshi. He looked up and stared at where the Zoid's red eyes had been. They were gone.  
  
"Now!" shouted Faye urgently.  
  
Hitoshi shoved the controls to the left. He caught a faint glimpse of something bound past. "How did you-" he started.  
  
"Fire straight ahead! Right now!!!"  
  
He obeyed and, lo and behold, a completely black Blade Liger appeared before them. Its red eyes seemed to be glaring at them. "Faye..." mumbled Hitoshi.  
  
"Ha ha!!!" shouted Faye, excited. "No more stealth for you, mister!"  
  
Hitoshi frowned. Okay, so this was a better situation, but he had just fired at the guy he'd been working under for almost three years. He wasn't in a position to do any more damage to that Blade Liger.  
  
"You ingrate FOOLS!" came a shout from the Blade Liger.  
  
"Oh, no..." mumbled Hitoshi. He heard a voice in his head: *Prove your loyalty once and for all.*  
  
"Hito, what is it?!!" cried Faye. "Look, he's going to charge at us! Aren't you going to-"  
  
"Get out of here while you still can," muttered Hitoshi, flipping a switch to his left. The cockpit opened.  
  
"What are you doing?!!" cried Faye.  
  
"...proving my loyalty." Hitoshi watched as the Blade Liger backed up a considerable distance. It extended its blades, roared, and started charging forward, slowly at first, and gaining speed. He could tell that even if he tried to move his Zoid, it wouldn't be able to.  
  
"No..." said Faye. For once, she wasn't smiling. "I can't leave you here to sacrifice yourself-"  
  
Hitoshi laughed. "You're better off without me, Faye," he said. "And I'm not sacrificing myself. He told us not to get too attached to anyone and I disobeyed. So, I'm being disciplined."  
  
"But he's gonna kill you!!!"  
  
"...I know."  
  
"Dang, you're crazy!" shouted Faye.  
  
"Get out of here!" shouted Hitoshi. "Please!"  
  
"No," said Faye firmly. "I won't leave you!"  
  
"This is exactly what he said would happen," mumbled Hitoshi. "Why didn't I listen...?"  
  
"I'm glad you didn't."  
  
"Get OUT!!!" shouted Hitoshi, turning around. He was about to shove her out of the cockpit, but knew it was too late.  
  
The Blade Liger jumped, practically flying through his Zoid. Hitoshi realized that there was no way either could survive this.  
  
He was wrong. As the Zoid Core began to implode, Kurai appeared in the cockpit, merged with him and, before he could react, flew straight back out of the Zoid. But Faye...*  
  
***  
  
Dive into the Core of Zi itself: Zoids Eve.  
  
"Come on, Jamie! Can't the Hover Cargo go any faster?!!"  
  
"For the Hover Cargo, this IS fast, Spring." Jamie Hemeros sighed as he piloted the huge transport towards New Helic City. "Why can't we just call them on a com?" he suggested.  
  
"I didn't think of that..." Spring activated a comlink to the Liger Zero X. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Bit or Leena's face who popped up.  
  
"What the heck do you want?!!" yelled the girl on the screen.  
  
"Oh... I was trying to get the Liger Zero X," mumbled Spring.  
  
"This IS the LZX. I'm borrowing it."  
  
"Then tell Bit Cloud that we need him, alright?"  
  
"What the heck," muttered the girl, "I guess so, if Mr. Toros hasn't broken any more models." She closed the comlink.  
  
"That was strange," said Jamie.  
  
"Lots of things are strange," agreed Spring. "Okay, the LZX should get there faster, so we can turn around, I guess."  
  
"Why didn't I just go out in my Raynos?" asked Jamie.  
  
"I dunno, I guess we completely forgot. Oh well... ahh!"  
  
Jamie turned around to see that a silver organoid had appeared out of nowhere. "Hey! Get away!" he shouted, jumping up. "Spring-"  
  
"W- wait," stammered the Zoidian. "I think she has something."  
  
The organoid dropped a floppy disk and turned around. It glowed and flew out of the Hover Cargo as a white light.  
  
"Jamie, look at this," said Spring, picking up the disk. "I wonder what's on it..."  
  
"Give it here," said Jamie. Spring handed him the floppy disk and he put in into a slot by the control panel. He pushed a few buttons and a detailed list popped up. "Spring?" he asked. "Do you know what this is?"  
  
"Wa!!!" cried Spring happily. She clapped her hands and smiled. "It's the list of the Chosen!!" She stopped and looked at it for a moment. "But... why did that organoid have it?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know, but we should probably read it." Jamie skimmed over the list. "Wow..." he muttered. "Ten names and I know exactly half of them."  
  
Ten Chosen... Ten Zoids... Ten different lives and ten different dreams.  
  
Just you wait, Kage. You'll regret the day you stepped off of Earth and came here with your human friends... you'll regret the day you convinced Neos Vert to kill Van Flyheight... you'll regret it all.  
  
In the end, you'll regret the day you met me: Zoids Eve...  
  
If you still love me you won't be able to destroy me...  
  
***  
  
I'm gonna have to apologize, 'cause eight out of the ten Chosen are... he he... girls. Oops. Ah well... Girls are easier characters to come up with, especially their names... in my opinion, at least.  
  
Hehe... Hahahahaha.... MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I luv this, even though it's my story anyways. Oh, sheesh. This is getting unpredictable.  
  
Oh, and don't let my rants scare you away. I'm not really as weird as I seem- okay, that's up to you to decide... I kinda hope you don't think I'm TOO weird... I just luv Zoids!!!  
  
Next time, Chapter XV, Gravity! I've already started this chapter... I need to see if I finished it, because I can't remember. Oh well. Remember, I'm bad at writing Zoids battles, which is why I've been avoiding them...  
  
BTW, Sayo is the name of a Japanese girl at my school (she can't speak much English, unfortunately, but she laughs a lot; we Americans must be funny, either that or strange... probably the latter). Taro Murata is the name of the Japanese immigrant I did a project on earlier in the school year. I'm hurting for names for characters in any stories, now; I've used 'em all!  
  
Oh yeah, and the last four episodes of Zoids weren't available on KaZaA. 


	15. Gravity

Chapter XV: Gravity  
  
More!!!  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Gravity Cannon..." mumbled Kokoro. "If I can find the Gravity Cannon... and Robert... he could pilot the Ultrasaurus, and..." She yawned. "...destroy the... Deathstinger..." Kokoro began to fall asleep when she noticed the Gul Tiger was slowing down. "Ooh... What is it, Gully?"  
  
She sat up straight and looked through the cockpit screen. In front of them was a stranded Whale King. Was it a wreck? Kokoro thought about if for a moment, shrugged, and directed the Gul Tiger over to it. She climbed out of the Zoid and approached the Whale King curiously.  
  
"Hello?" she called, knocking on the motionless metal. "Is anybody in there... Ahh! Oh, hello."  
  
"Hey, have you seen this girl?"  
  
Kokoro looked down at the boy standing in front of her. He was about thirteen or fourteen with jet black hair and purple (hey, are they black? or is it just me?) eyes. She took the picture he handed and looked at it. "You mean recently?" she asked, trying to remember anything.  
  
"Yeah, sometime today."  
  
Kokoro shook her head. She smiled, handing back the picture. "Hi, I'm Kokoro, who're you?"  
  
"The name's Vega," murmured the boy. "Vega Obscura. I have to go help them fix the Whale King now, but thanks anyways for your help."  
  
"Um... who is that... in the picture...?"  
  
Vega laughed at her. "That's my friend, Faye. I guess she took my advice."  
  
"Advice?" asked Kokoro confusedly. She watched as the boy walked towards the front of the Whale King, then ran after him. "Wait!"  
  
"Huh?" asked Vega, turning back around.  
  
"Err, I kinda need some advice," said Kokoro, sheepishly staring at the ground.  
  
"Umm, okay, I guess...?" Vega looked at her strangely, waiting. "Well?"  
  
"Oh!" cried Kokoro. "Sorry." She grinned. "I have this friend, Robert, who I met when..."  
  
As she told her story, Vega raised an eyebrow. There was no way she could be completely human. Surviving a crash in a Storm Sworder when the pilot hadn't? And that Evelyn girl. Vega understood these kind of things, thanks to the organoid Shadow. He knew perfectly well what "Evelyn" could do and who, or better yet what, she was, though not what she was originally. So he knew that no human could survive the crash, much less most of the other things that had happened to Kokoro...  
  
"So what do you think I should do?" she asked. "I mean, do you think that he's looking for me like I am... do you think he... still cares?"  
  
"I..." began Vega. How should he put this? Aw, heck. She didn't want him to tell her that she wasn't normal. She just wanted a little advice. "Of course he still cares about you!" cried Vega. "I'm sure of it. And you should continue doing what you've been doing- hoping and searching. By the way, have you tried calling his Zoid with a comlink?"  
  
"Huh?" asked Kokoro. "By comlink... thanks so much! I never would have thought of it... Except, I don't know how to operate the Gul Tiger's comlink system. It's not my Zoid..."  
  
"Oh," said Vega. "I have a Guysack right over there- c'mon."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"Please don't be in there, Kokoro," moaned Robert Marron, staring at the partially disabled Whale King. "Please... Huh? Kokoro?!!"  
  
Up ahead he saw Kokoro climbing into a blue Guysack, a young boy getting in with her. "What..." he said.  
  
"Like this?" A comlink opened in front of Robert. He grinned as he watched Kokoro turn around to ask her friend.  
  
"Yeah," said Robert. He laughed. "Like that."  
  
"Huh?" Kokoro turned back around and stared at his picture. "Zoids Eve... Robert, is that really you?!!"  
  
"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Robert.  
  
"Where are you? Are you alright-"  
  
"Koko!" said Robert. "C'mon, I'm fine. Turn that Guysack around and open its cockpit, will ya?"  
  
"Why?" asked Kokoro. She shrugged and Vega did as directed.  
  
Robert opened his own cockpit and jumped out. "Hey there!" he said, waving. He smirked. She was still as clueless as ever.  
  
"R- Robert?!!" cried Kokoro. "Oh, wow..." She climbed out of the Guysack and ran towards him.  
  
***  
  
"How'd it go?" asked Leena as Nurse Jenny jumped out of the Liger Zero X outside of the hospital.  
  
"Yeah, how was it, Jenny?" asked Bit suspiciously.  
  
"Why do you look so...?" began Jenny, looking around at their group. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Actually, Jenny..." said Dr. Toros. "You've been lying to us."  
  
"Okay, okay!" Jenny gave in.  
  
"That was pretty fast," said Kylie.  
  
"So I'm not REALLY a certified Nurse, so what?" cried Jenny. "I just need a little money, that's all..."  
  
Bit tripped and fell.  
  
"What?" asked Jenny. "You didn't mean that, did you?"  
  
"We mean that your name isn't really Jenny," sighed Dr. Toros.  
  
"So?" asked Jenny. "What's it to you?"  
  
"Sayo..." said Kylie. "Why are you working at a hospital?"  
  
Sayo glared. "Dang. I didn't know you were here, Nanase..."  
  
"It's Kylie now," corrected Kylie. *I think...*  
  
"Whatever..." mumbled Sayo. "I'm looking for my brother, if it means anything to you."  
  
"So you're not with the Backdraft anymore?"  
  
"Heck, no!"  
  
"Good... we were afraid you'd steal Liger, or put a tracking device in him or something," said Bit, sighing in relief.  
  
"Oh, sheesh..." muttered Sayo hopelessly. "Well, I didn't, so you can go now. By the way, your friends in the Hover Cargo want you right away. They called by comlink. Something about the Deatstinger..."  
  
"I completely forgot about them," said Bit worriedly. "I hope nothing happened..."  
  
***  
  
"Yesterday I would have been taken aback... Today, I know better," commented Jamie when he stopped at Spring's name and read the information.  
  
"Well, do you like me, too?" asked Spring quietly.  
  
"I guess... but why?"  
  
"I envy you," murmured Spring. "You and your friends have everything I ever wanted. You're so lucky... We Zoidians have completely different lives."  
  
"It can't be that bad," said Jamie, shrugging.  
  
"We can feel practically every horrible thing that happens on Zi... It hurts, Jamie. It really does... And you know how the statistics say that every eight seconds someone dies?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"It's true."  
  
***  
  
"Zoids Eve is right over there..." The Death Cat stood motionless in the ruins of Guyglos as its pilot mapped everything out. "New Helic should be somewhere in that direction... And Guyglos is here. It's one huge triangle. And since the complete ruins are much bigger than what rose up a hundred years ago..." She sighed. "...and it's all connected... that's huge and full of a lot of obstacles. Which means that if I can buy them some time, the Chosen should get there quickly enough to..." She glared and swore. "It's never going to work! Nothing can stop him from getting to Zoids Eve and destroying it! Not even someone like me-" Vivian laughed. "Not someone like Vivian, but maybe, just maybe, a certain Shadow could use her strange powers to stall Kage so that the Chosen can get in the ruins, to Zoids Eve, and defend her while the ZBC and the Backdraft finally forget their differences, join forces, and work together to destroy him. Like I said, this is never going to work. I'll just have to do something on my own, so he can never get here in the first place... Oh, what the heck..."  
  
So many years ago Van Flyheight, Thomas Schubaltz, and the mercenary known as Irvine had worked together to form a temporary pyramid-shaped force field around the Deathstinger so that the Ultrasaurus would have enough time to fire its huge Gravity Cannon. It would be risky, but maybe it would work again...  
  
If only they had the right equipment, the right experience... Only someone in the Guardian Force would be able to pull it off. Someone in GF, and the Ultimate X. Except the fact that the GF didn't exist anymore, as there wasn't any reason for it anymore.  
  
***  
  
"Ayumi?"  
  
"What...?" Ayumi opened one eye.  
  
"Something's happening," said Neos nervously.  
  
"Really? Great!"  
  
"No, something bad."  
  
She looked ahead at the shiny pink cocoon. "It's still the same."  
  
"Not on the inside, it isn't," said Neos."  
  
"How can you tell?" asked Ayumi. "Oh, yeah. You're a Zoidian."  
  
"Duh," muttered Neos. "Lessee... our situation isn't that great."  
  
"Well, that's obvious."  
  
"Hitoshi's asleep and our Zoids won't move... Akira's stuck... Eira's unconscious... Trinity's not back yet... shoot."  
  
***  
  
Robert watched Kokoro closely as she climbed into the Gul Tiger. If she was an artificial intelligence system in an artificial body, then how was she able to cry? To grow? To get tired?!! How could she care for him like this? Dr. Scott... he must have really grown attached to his little "pet" to have risked his life to get her out. Or was there something else about Kokoro, something important?  
  
He shrugged. It was only more questions plaguing him, more doubts and unanswerable inquiries to keep him busy. Now that he had found Kokoro, what was he supposed to do? There was nowhere for either to go. They couldn't go back to the Kaiser, as Robert didn't trust him anymore and hadn't completed his mission...  
  
They couldn't seek refuge from the Backdraft, who hated Kaiser anyways. Besides, he had promised Dr. Scott, even though he was dead, that he wouldn't let the Backdraft get her...  
  
He had no idea where Bit and his friends were, much less anything about them except that some of them were chosen to save Zi. He had no other friends, and no family... No family? Robert's mom had died years ago of the same disease that had taken Bit Cloud's mother; his father, despite Robert's ignorance, had died in the Storm Sworder crash trying to save Kokoro. Cid Marron had disappeared in shame after being defeated by the Liger Zero X Atta a second time...  
  
For some odd reason Robert knew that he had another brother. He wasn't quite sure. Being with the Kaiser's strange group had changed him a lot. It was harder to remember those earlier memories, which was probably why he'd forgotten that Scott Altiel was his own father. Kaiser, though Robert had never seen him, had taken on the "father" role in his life.  
  
He deeply regretted ever letting Kage take over his life. He had been so young, and he still was! Robert and Kokoro's whole lives still lay ahead of them. Their lives were just beginning, so they'd start over from scratch. They'd start by finding Robert's brother, and then...  
  
***  
  
*If the Deathstinger has already been awakened, then why do I keep having these thoughts that tell me I'll be the one who brings it back? How is this possible? What does it all mean?!!*  
  
"Kylie! Oh, wow, it's my Dibison!" cried Leena.  
  
After they had confronted her, Sayo had conventionally remembered what Spring and Jamie had told her and repeated it to them. They were shocked and eager to get over there and help. Before long they had made their way back to the outskirts of town, where the Zoids had been parked.  
  
Kylie blushed. "Yeah... I guess you'd like it back, huh?"  
  
Leena shrugged. "Liger doesn't have enough weapons, but... I kind of like being a copilot."  
  
"Okay..." said Kylie. "That's good with me. However, we need to get Mr. Toros in one of the Zoids... I don't want him in my cockpit."  
  
"Err..." mumbled Bit. "Leon's gone, so Leena can take the Dibison with Kylie, and I'll take Doc with Liger. 'Kay?"  
  
***  
  
"Hey, they forgot about me..." muttered Faye, seeing that the Salamander was now sitting by itself with the exception of Harry's Dark Horn. "That's not fair... What am I supposed to do now? Where am I supposed to go, who am I supposed to follow now that I'm through with the Backdraft...?"  
  
***  
  
"What?" asked Robert as his Spino Snapper followed the Gul Tiger. "So someone's trying to resurrect the Ultrasaurus to destroy the Deathstinger, leaving no remains so it can never be used again... but your friend needs the old Gravity Cannon?"  
  
"That's right," said Kokoro. It seemed as though she'd almost completely forgotten about their separation.  
  
"I think I know where that is," mumbled Robert. "But one problem... there aren't any more shells."  
  
"I'm sure Mr. Sephiroth could make some more with YOUR help..." answered Kokoro. "After all, you're both technical geniuses!!! Just like Dr. Scott, right?"  
  
"Dr. Scott, huh...?" asked Robert. "Yeah... jus' like dad."  
  
"Huh?" asked Kokoro. "What-"  
  
"Well, do you wanna go find the Gravity Cannon or not?" cried Robert, trying to change the subject.  
  
Kokoro laughed. "Let's go for it."  
  
***  
  
BTW: I noticed a mistake... hehehe... The last four episodes aired on the 4th of January, right? I didn't have cable, so I still haven't seen them, but I saved the pages of the spoilers from Anime Admirers on my computer...  
  
When they first get the Gravity Cannon, they mention that there are only THREE shells. They use one as a test. They use a second to fire at the Deathstinger, but it drifts to the side and they miss. So they fire another one- this hits it. That's THREE.  
  
But alas! Ambient brings the Deathstinger back!!! After lots of fighting and Ambient bringing it back some more, when it becomes the Deathsaurer.... they fire it AGAIN. There is no effect. This equals a total of FOUR TIMES!!!! And there were only THREE SHELLS!!!!  
  
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Okay, Back to my lame story.  
  
***  
  
The pink cocoon suddenly shattered.  
  
"I told you something was happening," shrugged Neos.  
  
"Yeah, yeah..." said Ayumi. "But answer me this; why is it the same as when it went in?"  
  
"Huh?" Neos looked at the Deathstinger. She was right. The Deathstinger hadn't changed. "I guess... it can't evolve...?"  
  
"That doesn't mean it can't kill." Akira was still stuck standing where she was. "Where's Trinity?" she asked. "This is taking way too long."  
  
"Akira..." muttered Neos. "Are you alright? Suddenly you've become so..."  
  
"We've all changed." Akira sighed. "Dang... if Trinity doesn't get back there's only one thing we can do to defend ourselves."  
  
"Is she thinking what I think she's thinking?" asked Ayumi. "She couldn't possibly..."  
  
"It looks like the Deathstinger's recovering," said Hitoshi suddenly.  
  
"Huh?" asked Neos. "You're awake!!!"  
  
"Why wouldn't I be? It'll be about a minute before that thing's back up to full strength... not just any normal organoid like Ambient can evolve it. Only the organoid that evolved the Ultimate X!"  
  
"Another Chosen..." mumbled Akira.  
  
"Another?" asked Neos. "What does she mean...?"  
  
"Ungh.." muttered Eira, half-conscious. "World... domi... nation... Kaiser...? You mean you... have to... kill them 'cause... How should I know where Evelyn is? ...owchies... Huh?!!" She sat up. "The heck, where am I?!!!"  
  
"Don't you remember?" asked Neos.  
  
"Oh yeah... I'M GONNA GET AMBIENT FOR THIS!!!!! AND SHADOW, TOO!!! AND ALL OF YOU ZOIDIANS!!!" shouted Eira, trying to stand up. She threw a fist in the air. "HAHAHAHAHA!!! Just you wait, you (expletive)!!! ...hey, the Deathstinger..." She turned to look at the dangerous Zoid. "It's still the same. Hmm... Sooooo Ambient isn't the most powerful organoid on Zi other than the Ultimate X?" she asked. "Oh, I get it..." She fell back down to the sand from exhaustion.  
  
"Yeah," mumbled Akira. "If only I could understand it, too. If only Kaiser'd let me actually move... if only Trinity'd come back."  
  
"The Deathstinger was created by man using other Zoids," mubled Eira, "...so that means... it can only be EVOLVED by man... or forever destroyed by man."  
  
"You have to be kidding me..." mumbled Neos. "Are you saying we can't destroy it?"  
  
"You can't destroy it, but you can still defend yourselves."  
  
"Yeah, if our Zoids could move!!!" shouted Hitoshi angrily. "Sheesh..."  
  
"Trinity, where are you...?" asked Akira. "You're our last hope before this thing recovers from that evolution cocoon thing."  
  
***  
  
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...  
  
Trinity watched the two Zoids make their way back to the Blitz team's Hover Cargo. She had no intention of either letting them get there, or getting the Puffer to Akira and the others. So why not kill two birds with one stone? Destroy the Dibison and at least paralyze the LZX, destroying the Puffer Fish-like Zoid in the process.  
  
It didn't matter whether or not those fools knew who the Chosen were. It would hinder them even more, give them a weakness.  
  
They probably wouldn't let their Chosen fight for fear that they'd be killed and slash or captured, and Kaiser would be one step closer to activating Zoids Eve.  
  
And Evelyn? She couldn't do anything about this. Kaiser had interfered with her sympathetic plans- once he destroyed Zoids Eve once and for all she'd simply forget everything or just fade away.  
  
There was no one who could stop them now. It was all just going to get worse from now on.  
  
Trinity just had to make sure she kept the human organoid alive.  
  
If that's what Kylie was.  
  
The silver organoid shook these doubtful thoughts out of her head and flew off to fuse with Akira's Zoid.  
  
Dive... Why? Because you're Zi's only hope to continue existing, Chosen. But at the same time, you're more dangerous to Zi and Zoids Eve than even Kaiser Kage himself.  
  
***  
  
*tsk* Ambient, Ambient... HA!!! I've always hated that thing, and now I'm getting back at it. It can't evolve the Deathstinger, mwahahahaha... *victory dance* But apparently... something else can...  
  
I leave too many clues for people to follow. It was pretty obvious that Eira was the Deathstinger's pilot (so now I haven't succeeded in killing off ANY of my characters...)... And now it's even more obvious who's gonna finally evolve that hunk of junk that just won't stay destroyed.  
  
And you can't forget that I've changed Nanase's identity... what, five times or something (Nanase to Kylie to Kitai to Rukki back to Kylie... err...?)? And that I've tried to kill her... say... about five times, too. She just doesn't stay dead, like the Deathstinger! Not that I want her to stay dead, 'cause then what kind of motivation would Bit an' Harry have?!!!  
  
If you've asked, "Was Lori dropped on her head as a baby?" the answer is "No, I was dropped face-down in the snow as a baby." Enough of my ego check thingy madoober.  
  
Next time, What the heck did they mean by is-Akira-thinking-what-I-think- she's-thinking...? blahblahblah... and What the heck is wrong with Trinity? And Who the heck is Evelyn, anyways?!!! (Or not...) And Where the heck is this Taro guy? And Who the heck is this Yoko person I've heard sooo much about from Sayo? And Why is Lori's head empty? Or better yet, When will she stop ranting and write Chapter XVI?!!! And stop using the confusing Roman Numerals for chapter numbers?!!! Or writing in ten size font, Times New Roman, IN BRIGHT YELLOW(NEVER!!!!)?!  
  
OOH, btw, I'm overly hyper and happy because I found a good lessons-in- Japanese site... hehe... www.japanese-online.com... and I think I understand it so far... That might explain half the ranting. Anywho, Chapter XVI is the last chapter I started during the three months and five days that I didn't have the internet. Also, I looked up the meanings of some of the Japanese names I stole from the Japanese singers/composers we have songs by on the computer.  
  
ayumi (taken from Ayumi Hamasaki!)= walking (umm... I never knew that.) kokoro (I think that's someone's name from the Xenosaga game)= mind; heart; spirit... sayo (the name of the Japanese girl at my school)= evening yoko (Yoko Shimomura, the composer of the Kingdom Hearts music)= beside; side; width (uh...) And an interesting one that's the name of another character that is in another story I haven't uploaded (actually, it's the sequel to the sequel to this one... I started it out of boredom... oh, sheesh)- kimi= egg yolk! (it also means sensation or feeling)  
  
OK... I'm done now. Sorry for ranting. I guess I'm pretty much back to my normal this-story-takes-priority-over-my-homework self again. 


	16. Core of the Heart

Chapter XVI: Core of the Heart  
  
"Don't do it, Akira," said Neos. "Just wait five more minutes. Maybe Robert or someone will come!"  
  
The Deathstinger twitched and began to stand up. Akira watched it. "After what we did to him... he wouldn't."  
  
"Yeah, well, maybe someone else-" pleaded Hitoshi. He stopped. This was none of his business. So why did he care, anyways? Why?!!!  
  
Because he'd experienced losing a loved one before. "Someone else will show up," he suggested. "If you do this, we'll have one less person to use against the Deathstinger, alright? Kage probably WANTS you to do this."  
  
"You can't stop me," laughed Akira.  
  
"Have you gone crazy?!!" asked Eira. "Sheez! Look at you!" she cried weakly. "It'd be more natural to see you go ga-ga over Neos than to turn yourself into a Zoid Core!"  
  
"Ga-ga over Neos?!!" shouted Akira.  
  
Eira laughed. "That's more like it."  
  
"Then maybe I should."  
  
"No!" shouted Neos. "You're not going to, even if we die because you don't, alright?!!"  
  
"Like you care," said Akira.  
  
"I do!" he yelled. "I do, okay? I don't wanna see you die just like Lori or Kitty!"  
  
"Who?" asked Akira suddenly.  
  
"Lori Flyheight, the first human to ever set foot on Zi, and Kitty... whose real name I can't pronounce. Emperor Rudolph's daughter."  
  
"Whoa..." mumbled Ayumi. "Two totally different centuries and stories... I'd like to hear them, but it seems that a certain ancientish Zoid is ready to fight!"  
  
"Just great," muttered Neos. "Whee."  
  
"Where's Trinity?!!!" shouted Akira in distress. Eira looked up at the Deathstinger with dread and turned around to run, but she tripped.  
  
"Ugh..." she mumbled. "My head still kills... dang it... why did I ever get involved with the Backdraft or Kage, anyways?"  
  
***  
  
"What I wouldn't give to have both the Backdraft and the Deathstinger destroyed at one time," mumbled Kylie, watching the scenery go by as the Liger Zero X raced the Dibison to the Hover Cargo. It wasn't in sight quite yet.  
  
"Yeah," agreed her brother from the LZX. "That'd be great."  
  
"Bit?" asked Kylie.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Where did I come from?"  
  
"Huh?!!!" asked Bit. He sweat-dropped nervously. "You know about that stuff."  
  
"No!" laughed Kylie. "I mean, where did I REALLY come from?" she asked again, quietly. "Have I always been in this family...?"  
  
"You've always been my sister, for as long as I remember..." mumbled Bit. "But I'm not totally sure, I guess."  
  
"Me neither... I think that I still haven't remembered EVERYTHING about my past..."  
  
"No?" asked Bit. "What's there not to remember?"  
  
"I don't think I'm your sister by blood," said Kylie, much to his dismay. "I mean... our looks are probably just a coincidence, but I still don't feel like I'm actually a part of your family! I-"  
  
"Bit! Watch out!" shouted Leena as something fired at the Liger. She looked around for the source of the shots. "What the..."  
  
A silver sphere, relatively small when compared to the two Zoids, shot between them. It stopped suddenly a few meters away.  
  
"What's that?" asked Bit urgently. "We don't have any time to play with someone... Jamie and the others might need our help.  
  
The sphere glinted as many, many long spiky things poked out of it. The sphere began to spin as it hurtled back towards them.  
  
Kylie and Leena screamed.  
  
***  
  
"Oh dang!" shouted Jamie, watching the battle taking place across the vast gorge. "That's not good!"  
  
The Deathstinger was beating on three motionless Zoids; two girls struggled to get away from the fight.  
  
"Can't we do something?!!" cried Spring. "They're not even defending themselves!!!"  
  
"We should wait for Bit and Leena to get back," answered Jamie nervously. "Come on, fight back..."  
  
"You forgot about me!!!" A comlink popped up in front of them and Brad laughed at them. He'd been there all this time, how could they have forgotten?!! "Launch the Shadow Fox, Jamie."  
  
Jamie nodded slowly and began typing. Soon the Shadow Fox shot out of the Hover Cargo, landing on the other side of the gorge! It fired at the Deathstinger to grab its attention!  
  
The huge Zoid turned, glinting in the sunlight.  
  
***  
  
The sphere glinted once more. It wouldn't slow down, but kept picking up more and more speed. The Liger Zero X was fast enough to move out of the way, but not the old Dibison. It was hit and fell over.  
  
"Leena! Kylie!" yelled Bit and Dr. Toros. Bit glared at the spinning sphere. "You're gonna get it. C'mon, you coward, who are you?!!"  
  
"That Zoid doesn't have a pilot, Bit," mumbled Dr. Toros. "It's being controlled by an organoid."  
  
"Then let's do this, Liger versus that other organoid. Right?" asked Bit. "You think Liger could do it?" he added.  
  
"With a little help..." added Kylie from the Dibison, looking at him pleadingly.  
  
"Dang, I thought you'd say that..." muttered Bit. "I can't boss you around... do whatcha want."  
  
Kylie grinned. "That sphere thing is sooo dead." With that, she turned into a white light without much effort, fusing with the Dibison.  
  
"Hey, Leena!" cried Bit over a comlink. "You okay?"  
  
Leena nodded, dazed. "Did she just...?"  
  
He nodded in return. "Yeah... she did."  
  
The Dibison stood up, all wounds healed. The sphere hovered back a little, contracting its deadly spikes. It looked as if it was giving up, but alas; a new set of cylinders covered it soon.  
  
Apparently this would have been a good Zoid for Leena-they were all guns.  
  
***  
  
"Neos..." mumbled Akira. She watched the Deathstinger pummel the three Zoids. "We have no choice."  
  
"Dang it, no!" shouted Neos, struggling not to say more vulgar words for the sake of the PG rating and the authoress's not-being-allowed-to-swear and trying hard to not do it as much as some of her unmentioned friends. "Don't."  
  
"But if no one comes..." Suddenly the Deathstinger turned around, responding to shots from something else. She smiled in relief. When all else failed, count on the Blitz team to ruin your plans. Or, in this case, a former Blitz team member.  
  
The Shadow Fox howled, taunting the huge Zoid before it. Inside the cockpit, Brad laughed again. "Only cowards pick on people who can't defend themselves," he said seriously.  
  
The Deathstinger, or more like the self-proclaimed Shadow Emperor, seemed to consider this. It twitched again in hypertension and fired one last time at the other three Zoids with normal cannons. They were hit, as before, but this time knocked backwards a bit.  
  
"Hey..." mumbled Ayumi. "Our Zoids... They can move again."  
  
"...and so can I," said Akira. She grinned. "Even better."  
  
"No," mumbled Neos, seeing the glint in her eye. "Don't do it. Please, don't... No!!! Akira!!! Please, I-!!!"  
  
"Love me?" finished Akira. "We Zoidians have no future. That's why we have to reinforce our present."  
  
"Do we have to be Zoidians?" asked Neos deliberately. "Do we have to believe what he's told us?"  
  
She raised an eyebrow at the question. "Huh?"  
  
"What if we'd rather just be normal people?"  
  
"No matter how much you want to, we can't!" shouted Akira. "We can't just be normal!"  
  
"Why not?!!"  
  
"Because I'm a Chosen!!!" yelled Akira angrily. "I'm a dang Chosen!!! And I can't change my destiny!"  
  
Hitoshi watched with interest. Were Neos' feelings unrequited? Or was Akira just willing to sacrifice herself to save him?  
  
Or perhaps she'd just gone crazy from dehydration.  
  
***  
  
"Zoids Eve..." mumbled Eira Champ miserably, watching the four Zoids duke it out with the Deathstinger, Akira watching too. It seemed that she had given up on the Zoid Core idea for a moment. Perhaps Akira was wrong, perhaps she did have a future, a future with Neos, even if she WAS a Chosen. He didn't seem to care. At least she was considering not throwing it all away to stall the Deathstinger, which she couldn't even actually destroy.  
  
Only one Zoid was strong enough to defeat it.  
  
Okay... make that two.  
  
Or maybe three... four, five, six... Ten. Ten Zoids, ten Chosen. At least there weren't ten Deathstingers.  
  
Eira had to admit, she had no idea who any of the Chosen were. Of course there were Bit and Leena, and now Akira... but for all she knew her cousin Harry could be one of them! But she was almost positive that she wasn't one. Eira Champ? A Chosen?!!! It was impossible.  
  
Eira grinned. Maybe...  
  
And maybe it was impossible to defeat the Deathstinger.  
  
Ah well... the Deathstinger wasn't even the real threat.  
  
"Why are you helping us?!!" shouted Ayumi, firing at the Zoid and then jumping back. "You don't even know who we are!"  
  
"Sure I do," mumbled Brad, trying to concentrate on fighting the Deathstinger before it could do any more damage. "You're the lady who tried to kill Doc and Jack Sisco... The one in the green is the guy who convinced Sylvia's organoid to take over Kylie's body two years ago... the one in the white looks distinctly like old Lord Prozen."  
  
Hitoshi glared resentfully.  
  
"And the two without Zoids, who should be running for their lives- the one in purple is Akira, of course, from that organoid's list... and the pink one is Eira Champ, who came dang near close to destroying the Blitsz team two years ago."  
  
"I would've, too," mumbled Eira. "If it wasn't for darn Adrian and his girlfriend."  
  
"Eira, Eira... if you want to not get killed by the Deathstinger, you shouldn't say things like that in the presence of the 'girlfriend.'"  
  
A purple and black Rev Raptor ran up and fired a few shots at the Deathstinger. There was no effect. "So now it's five to one?" asked Sylvia.  
  
"We definitely have an advantage now..." muttered Ayumi in astonishment. "Not that long ago we were bitter enemies, and now..."  
  
"We're all enemies against the Deathstinger," answered Sylvia, shrugging. The Deathstinger turned and backed up nervously. Perhaps Ambient didn't want to fight against this many opponents...  
  
"Six to one!" A green Raynos zoomed overhead.  
  
"Jamie?" asked Brad and Sylvia.  
  
"Hey!" he shouted in anger. "It's the Wild Eagle to you!!!"  
  
***  
  
Harry Champ stared at the Zoid Battle Commission's office building. He found himself kind of... regretting something. What? He didn't know. Just something... something he should have addressed a long time ago.  
  
Thinking for a moment, Harry realized that being in the presence of Kylie must have reminded him of how much he missed Leena! It had been two whole years, and he hadn't even seen her once in person!!! He must be regretting not looking for Leena at the hospital...  
  
"Harry!"  
  
"Huh?" asked Harry, turning around. "Oh... it's you. Whaddaya want? (She creeps me out... he thought. Way too cheerful.)"  
  
Faye panted from running to catch up with him and looked back up, smiling... yet... again. "Taro told me you would show me around?"  
  
"Huh? Taro?"  
  
"Yeah," said Faye in confusion. "See, he's quitting next week and they needed someone to fill his place as-"  
  
"Fine, just shut up," mumbled Harry He was thinking. Taro was one of his friends at work... He did a lot of important paperwork. "Wait, do you know him?"  
  
Faye nodded. "Yeah... of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"Never mind." Harry scratched his head. When Taro left, he'd have to put up with Faye and all of the annoying high schooler's who surfed the internet when they were supposed to be doing important things by HIMSELF. Torture! He'd have no one sensible to talk with any more! "Okay... but why can't Taro do this himself?"  
  
"He sprained his wrist from tripping on a rock or a tree root or something and had to go to the hospital," said Faye, shrugging.  
  
"Sounds like Taro... He's kinda frail, either that or clumsy," said Harry nonchalantly. "But really good with computers... okay, enough of my endless ramblings. It figures. C'mon."  
  
He guided her into the small building. "Okay... first off, we only have one TV, so in your occasional free time you can't sit around and watch anime on the Cartoon Network. It's stuck on the news channel. Like right now, they're talking about... hey, that's Brad Hunter." He sat down in front of the TV. A group of other ZBC members with various jobs were beginning to gather; they watched as well.  
  
"Only a few minutes ago we were contacted by Fluegel team member Brad Hunter regarding a crisis with this message that we have just sent to the ZBC headquarters..." said the newswoman. "We'll play it again, for those of you who just tuned in."  
  
"I have urgent news for the ZBC," TV-screen Brad said in the cockpit of his Zoid. "But, err, I can't seem to remember their comlink number, so send 'em this message." (poor Brad must feel humiliated)  
  
The screen switched to one of the Shadow Fox's surveillance cameras. It showed several different Zoids struggling to keep up their fight against something else, and two girls, not in Zoids, trying to find some way to get out of the mess. It switched to another camera to show their oppressor.  
  
The crowd gasped in shock. It was none other than... the Deathstinger! The Zoid that was feared more than all others, except for the legendary Deathsaurer! *Gasp!*  
  
It switched back to Brad. "You can see that this is urgent, so-"  
  
A comlink appeared to his right. It was a person who looked a lot like Lord Prozen... "Hey! To your left!"  
  
Brad slammed his controls to the right. "Thanks..." he said, being narrowly missed by a swiping claw. He turned back to the screen. Suddenly the screen went fuzzy, and soon you could see the newswoman again. "Is this the real Deathstinger or just some phony?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "You'll have to keep watching tomorrow for the shocking news."  
  
"I hate cliffhangers," muttered Harry. "Sheez.. there must be something I can do. Faye, I'll show you around later- Faye...?"  
  
"N- no!" cried Faye. "No, it can't be...Zoids Eve... I..." She broke into tears.  
  
Harry sighed. So the cheerfulness was gone now. What was it, mood swings?!! "C'mon, the Deathstinger's been defeated a zillion times before and the Deathsaurer twice. It's not such a big deal."  
  
"H- Hito- You- I- Please, don't die out there!"  
  
He stared at her. She had fallen to her knees not too long ago, while the message was still playing. "Hito...?" he asked. "Who...?"  
  
"Why couldn't I tell that you were still alive?!! Why?!!!!!!!!!" she continued. "Oh, why couldn't I have just died..."  
  
"Hey!" yelled Harry. "No one's gonna die here!"  
  
"Don't you get it?!!" shouted Faye. She stood up and whirled to face him. "Don't you understand what this means?!!! He's back! THEY'RE back!!! ALL of them!!!"  
  
"What the?!!" said Harry. "What the heck are you talking about?!!!!!!!"  
  
She clutched her head. "Come ON!!!! All this yelling makes me so tired... I... Dang it!" Faye suddenly stopped. "Huh? What did I just... I mean..."  
  
"Hey, it's okay," said Harry soothingly. "Just tell me what you were talking about, alright?"  
  
"But he's HERE... in New Helic... dang. Dang..."  
  
"Who is he?"  
  
"Kaiser Kage..."  
  
"Faye!" shouted Harry as she tried to turn away. "Just calm down and tell me everything."  
  
She did as instructed. "My parents were killed by the Backdraft a long time ago... I've always looked after myself. When the Zoidian Guild set up camp near the village I was living in to excavate an ancient city, I... I met Hito..."  
  
"Go on..."  
  
"He looked so much like Prozen that I was curious about him... So we became friends. But then he changed, he got more nervous and... and... and then Kaiser Kage took everything away from me that I ever wanted!!! Even my hope that my parents weren't really dead!" she finished, shouting. "I hate him! ...and I hate Hitoshi! ...and myself, for letting all this happen...!"  
  
That was enough of an explanation. Harry understood as much as he ever would, which wasn't much. "Okay, errm..." he began.  
  
"Harry Champ..." mumbled Faye, laughing through tears. "Thanks... I needed that. Zoids Eve... hehe..."  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"All this time, I thought HE died and his organoid saved me. He probably thought I died and his organoid saved HIM."  
  
Harry chuckled. Okay... he didn't really understand still, but so what? What the heck... So, 1.) The Deathstinger was back.  
  
2.) Faye knew one of the guys fighting it.  
  
3.) This "Kaiser Kage" guy was in New Helic City.  
  
4.) Since Brad was out there, the Blitz team and the Fluegel team couldn't be far behind, so...  
  
5.) That meant that Leena and Kylie weren't far bahind...  
  
6.) And Harry would have to do something before he checked back in with the others and explained why this had taken so long...  
  
"Faye," said Harry, trying to sum things up. "Can you take me to the Deathstinger?"  
  
"The Deathstinger?" asked Faye. She laughed. "Take you there? You're crazy!"  
  
"Then can you take me to Kage?"  
  
"You don't even know who Kage is!" cried Faye. She laughed again. "You're really crazy... He's more dangerous than the Deathstinger...!"  
  
"Wha?" asked Harry. "Shee... you're right... but I don't care. Whoever he is, he seems to be up to no good, and someone has to stop him!"  
  
"The Chosen will," laughed Faye.  
  
"Huh? Chosen?"  
  
"Ten Chosen..." mumbled Faye. "Ten Zoids... The only ones who can destroy the Deathstinger and save Zi. Unless they destroy it first."  
  
"Uh..."  
  
***  
  
"Only one more day... I can wait that long..." mumbled Sayo, also known as Nurse Jenny. "I could wait a year knowing he's alive..." She cleared her throat and hefted the medicine tray to one hand, knocking on a door. "Helloooo.... I'm here with your... whatever it is you have to take, alright?"  
  
"I don't freaking care... jus' come in."  
  
Sayo shrugged. "Whatever." She pushed open the door and walked in, not bothering to look around. All of the hospital rooms were the same, anyways...  
  
"I don't need to be hospitalized just 'cause I sprained my wrist," complained the Patient. "I mean, sheesh, I sprain my wrist all the time! It's nothing new!"  
  
Sayo sighed. Patients always procrastinated, especially when hospitals made them nervous. "Blah blah blah," she mocked under her breath. Sayo opened a bottle of painkiller and poured some in her palm. "How many of these are you supposed to take?"  
  
"Three," he answered.  
  
"Mmhmm..." mumbled Sayo. She picked up the glass of water and turned around to present the pills to the Patient; instead, she dropped everything. "Zoids Eve... Taro?!!"  
  
"Sayo?!!!"  
  
***  
  
Akira watched the Zoid battle wearily. Even with that many Zoids, they still stood no chance against it. They were still losing horribly... She had to do it! She's just wait a little longer and hope for a miracle...  
  
The Raynos had been shot down before the Wild Eagle could do much damage. He was unconscious now, but his Zoid had landed safely. As for Ayumi, her Liger Zero X had simply overheated from the stress and she was now swearing her head off.  
  
Hitoshi's Zoid was severely damaged, but he had given up hope long before and stopped fighting. There was just no reason for him to fight. There was nothing left for him now...  
  
Brad and the Shadow Fox? He refused to use Shadow mode-something about a promise. So he, as well, needed help desperately.  
  
Sylvia... she was fighting with all her might, but a simple Rev Raptor wasn't of much use.  
  
And Neos. His Zoid was getting quite old, but still functioning incredibly well. But, being the only one to actually damage the Deathstinger enough to slow it down, he wouldn't last much longer.  
  
It was now or never. Akira knew that this would be the last chance she'd get to say anything, so...  
  
She looked at Eira. The kid was practically still barely conscious, she barely understood what was gong on. But so what? "Eira..." mumbled Akira. "When this is over, tell Neos I love him, and that I'm not gonna go back, okay?"  
  
Maybe Eira wouldn't be able to remember... and maybe none of them would live through this. But there was still a chance.  
  
For where there's a chance, there's hope. Where there's hope, there's love. And where there's love, there's life with victory in sight.  
  
Akira laughed. She now understood that everything she'd believed in until now had been false. But she didn't care anymore. "Good luck, Chosen," she mumbled, smiling slightly.  
  
She closed her eyes, and as the Orudios glowed, took a deep breath to speak one last time. A spot of sand grew dark and wet from tears. "...sorry, Neos..."  
  
...it wouldn't be long now...  
  
One last time, dive into the heart and learn what love is really about.  
  
***  
  
Umm... I won't bother explaining it. I've wanted to do this for a while... because... I dunno, because is a good enough reason. Oh... Ah well...  
  
Thanks, Kitai. It figures. Of course Dr. D would go and make another shell, being the technical genius he is. Which makes one wonder... if he made one more... did he bother to make a few extras in case something like this ever happened again?!! Probably.  
  
Our "heroes" will have to hope so, 'cause if not, they're not going to live much longer.  
  
Oh, and I haven't had cable since about when the internet went away. It cost too much, and was always fuzzy anyways. Cable's supposed to be all beautifully clear. So I still haven't seen those last episodes... and none of my friends who know what Zoids is, like it, and bothered to watch the last four episodes taped it. Actually, there IS one person I never asked... hmm! hahahaha! There's still a chance that I might see them before they come out on DVD (they better.)!  
  
Oh, and I get confused easily too : ) Probably because I can't hear very well sometimes? The only reasons I understand half of what I've written so far is because 1.) I wrote it, of course, and  
  
2.) I had a LOT of time on my hands. It just so happens that when I don't have the internet I have like no homework, and then when it's back, the homework and stuff comes back too.  
  
Oh well! Next confusing time... I need to think it out a little more...  
  
I should stop ranting now, but I like to talk, so : ) I uploaded an original anime I was working on (when I couldn't think of what to do in this) that I luv and haven't finished yet, only, I didn't realize how hard it is to maintain two stories at once. Of course, I uploaded it all at once and haven't gotten anything done on it since then... sheesh. And now, of course, I have another idea that's been floating in my head for a while (actually, I have three, but who cares?!!) and I have to get down on paper or type before I forget... So, all in all, I need to come up with some way that I can keep up with everything at once. Or, I could just say "THIS TAKES PRIORITY SO BUZZ OFF!!!" and forget everything I had planned, then read everything years later and finish it.  
  
Yeah, I'm crazy. That started about four years ago, when my family moved to Ohio. And then when we first got the Cartoon Network and I started watching Mobile Suit Gundam, then realized that wonderful old Monster Rancher and Digimon (season 1) were both Japanese... And then I saw Zoids (in the beginning of last school year, was it?), hated Bit, and fell in luv with those awesome machines and Harry... Of course, I can stand Bit now. And then I started getting up in the morning everyday and watching Chaotic Century, waiting and waiting and waiting for those last four to air!!!!!!!!!  
  
Okay, so I'm beyond hope. At least that means that this story'll keep going and going and going... for a long while... a very, very long while... 


	17. Dearest

Chapter XVII: Dearest  
  
"Akira?" asked Neos, watching his friend. "Akira?!!! Akira!" he shouted. "DANG IT, NO!" (wrote the actual word, but fixed it... hehe... silly me.) "You..."  
  
"She's not really-?!" asked Ayumi from her green overheated Liger Zero X. Eira stared in disbelief, still fairly dazed.  
  
Sylvia sighed as she purposely disabled her Rev Raptor. There was nothing more she could do... it was all up to Akira and Neos now.  
  
Brad watched, lowering his eyes. Naomi would probably feel like Neos did now if he used Shadow mode, knowing that the Shadow Fox's had never been properly tested...  
  
Jamie was still unconscious, but Spring watched from the Hover Cargo. She didn't think this was a very good idea.  
  
The Deathstinger turned. So... she was trying to turn herself into a Zoid Core. An admirable and courageous feat, but still an incredibly foolish one. One similar to what happened to Hiltz years ago, when Zoids Eve was activated. Only, because she was a Chosen, part of Zoids Eve was with her, and so it was not necessary to activate it in order to do such a thing...  
  
Apparently she hoped to then merge with the Orudios, boosting its strength and firepower... But at the same time she would make it more vulnerable, weakening its pilot! Or, perhaps, she might strengthen him, for Neos would feel more duty to not let his Zoid be destroyed...  
  
Only one thing to do, then!  
  
The Deathstinger shot at the Orudios while Neos was distracted, hindering it from stopping the ancient Zoid. As expected, it lowered all of its guns at the Zoidian...  
  
...before long, firing, throwing dust and sand everywhere...  
  
"Neos!" Eira shouted with sudden energy. "She's not going back to Zoids Eve!"  
  
"W- what?!!" cried Neos.  
  
"Do something!" shouted Hitoshi. With what little force he had left, his Zoid fired at the Orudios to snap Neos out of his state of shock.  
  
Were they too late?!!!  
  
***  
  
"Huh?" asked Leena, Bit, and Dr. Toros.  
  
One moment the little sphere had been fighting viciously, and winning, but the next its organoid had flown straight out of it in the direction of the Hover Cargo. The Sphere had fallen to the ground, though it had only been hovering about a meter above anyways.  
  
"Wha..." mumbled Bit. "Hey, Kylie. Kylie?"  
  
The Dibison, already fused with his sister, turned around and began to run after it.  
  
"Well..." sighed Bit. "I guess we have no choice but to follow."  
  
Dr. Toros nodded. He hadn't really been listening, he was just thinking about why a wild organoid without a pilot would abandon a good fight, just like that. Maybe it WASN'T wild, like he had originally thought. "I think that organoid was responding to someone's call..." he said.  
  
"Yeah, okay," said Bit, trying to get Liger to keep up with the Dibison, which had suddenly grown abnormally fast. "Sheesh... I hope Kylie's alright..."  
  
The doc laughed. "As an organoid gains experience, their powers become stronger and they're able to do more things. Like Liger."  
  
Liger roared in agreement (lately I haven't been treating him like an/THE Ultimate X!), continuing to run. "Do you think that means we can figure out how to use that last armor soon?" asked Bit.  
  
Doc shrugged. "I'm not sure, Bit, but... we should do more research first. By the way..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I think I've found a way to use the old armors again, only they'd probably be even more powerful..."  
  
"So Liger actually has six different CAS systems now?!!"  
  
"That's what I'm thinking..."  
  
***  
  
"So, Taro..." mumbled Sayo, picking up the pieces of the broken glass.  
  
"Yeah?" asked her twin brother, reaching down to help.  
  
"Do ya know where they put our Zoids?!!"  
  
Taro laughed. "We don't need them anymore."  
  
"What?" Sayo dumped the pieces into a garbage can and turned back to look at him.  
  
"Whenever they got a chance, the Backdraft made sure we were kept apart," said Taro nervously. "Because their experiment might have worked... and they were afraid of what might happen if..."  
  
Sayo looked away as she began to leave the room. "Yeah, I understand. All this time I've felt as though a part of me was missing, but it's a much bigger part than I ever imagined..." She sighed. "It'd been so long since we had last saw each other..."  
  
"So whaddaya say we check out of here? My wrist'll be fine..."  
  
"Yeah..." mumbled Sayo. She grinned. "Twin Moons, right?"  
  
"Twin Moons..."  
  
***  
  
It was dusk, and the twin moons of Zi were shining brightly as Neos watched the Deathstinger burrow underground, its job done for now. He didn't try to stop it, though it was kicking up even more dust. He wanted it to. He didn't want to see what had happened to his dear friend...  
  
Of course, they had started out hating each other more than anything else, anywhere, but not that long ago all that had changed. The Chosen's determination had been so intriguing that they had began to realize that they were wrong, Kage was wrong... Perhaps they had never liked each other because they didn't want to disobey him, because they truly believed that emotions were nonexistent, even though their hearts told them otherwise...  
  
"Heck..." said Neos. "I can't take it anymore... I have to get away from here."  
  
"Zoids Eve..." mumbled Sylvia. "No."  
  
"Neos!" called Hitoshi, forcing his Zoid up to go after the other Zoidian. "You can't go yet- how do you know she's gone? She could still be here on Zi!"  
  
"Yeah, and maybe Faye's alive and well!" shouted Neos angrily. This was really happening, wasn't it...?  
  
"She is," laughed Sylvia.  
  
"What?" asked Hitoshi. His Zoid stopped. "How can you know this for sure?!!" His eyes lit up, a rare occasion for someone who was often so cold.  
  
"Because I made Twilight save her." Sylvia reactivated her Zoid. "That was before I became a Shadow-"  
  
"Where is she?!!!"  
  
"The Backdraft, but I'm not sure..."  
  
"Zoids Eve, she's alive..." mumbled Hitoshi. He didn't know what to say.  
  
"Let's just hope the ZBC got my message," said Brad, trying to change the subject, which was, frankly, making him uncomfortable. "(Expletive), look...!"  
  
"I... don't think I should..." mumbled Neos. "Dang.... Akira."  
  
"Rrr."  
  
Neos looked down at the silver organoid emerging from the cloud of dust. It walked up to the Orudios. "Twilight, where were you?" he asked quietly.  
  
The organoid stared at the ground as the dust finally cleared.  
  
Neos swore under his breath. "(Expletive)... what've we done, Trinity...?" He laughed. "None of this would ever have happened if I hadn't killed Van Flyheight. Dang."  
  
"Neos..." mumbled Eira. "She said to tell you that... she loved you..." She stared in disbelief. "I guess that was it?"  
  
Neos forced himself to look up, to see what the Deathstinger- what Kage- had done. "...? She's..."  
  
Akira seemed to smile, kind of floating in the air, the blue force field around her flickering and disappearing. "I love you," she whispered. She fell down onto the sand...  
  
...lifeless...? (umm...)  
  
"There's still a chance," mumbled Sylvia. "Twilight!" she shouted. "You have to-"  
  
"No," said Neos. "No, Twilight."  
  
"What?!!" shouted Eira, Ayumi, and Hitoshi.  
  
"Neos?" asked Sylvia uneasily. "You know that Twilight can fuse with her and..."  
  
"Yeah, I do," mumbled Neos. "Which is why I can't let her do this."  
  
"What do you mean?!!"  
  
"You can't control her," said Neos. "Twilight... in nature, she's still pretty much a wild organoid. There's no telling what she could do to Akira... I should know."  
  
"Neos..." mumbled Sylvia. "I know all about your past experiences, but...? Don't you want Akira to live?"  
  
"Of course I do," muttered Neos. "But I know better than to do this. I don't want to use Twilight except for a last resort. Just... wait..."  
  
"Evelyn's not going to show up," said Sylvia, growing impatient. "And Fiona- "  
  
"Sylvie, listen to him," said Ayumi, convinced. "I think I understand what he's trying to say. He's been with Twilight in like four different time periods, or something like that. He knows her way better than you, so just listen to him."  
  
"Do NOT call me Sylvie," said Sylvia angrily. "It's SylviA. Please."  
  
"They'll turn up, don't worry," said Neos. "Someone will. I knew both Fiona AND Evelyn. Of course, I'm not saying that we were good friends, but..."  
  
***  
  
"See, if Evelyn's around, then Kage..." said Faye, following Harry back to their Zoids.  
  
"Umm... who's Evelyn?" asked Harry curiously. "And what does this girl have to do with Kage?"  
  
"Furthermore, if Kage's back then Neos is back, too," she continued. "And who else... Good, I think that's all."  
  
"And who's Neos?!!"  
  
"Harry," laughed Faye, "You have no idea what's going on, do you?"  
  
"Exactly," said Harry. "So how do you know all this?"  
  
"You have no idea how much it sucks." Faye sighed, walking up to her Salamander. "But if you want to know that badly, it's kind of on account of the Backdraft... but kind of... not."  
  
"Err."  
  
"I won't bother explaining," said Faye quietly. "You know... something's happening to this dang planet, and it's not normal."  
  
Nothing on Zi is 'normal'... thought Harry. "What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"More and more people are showing up..." she mumbled. "People who can pilot Zoids abnormally well. People who can understand them, people with organoids, people who..."  
  
"...are psychics, people who..." continued Harry. "Yeah, I get what you mean. It's been so long since we first came to Zi, and..."  
  
"...yeah..." muttered Faye. "Okay, let's go."  
  
"Where are we going again?"  
  
"You're hopeless..."  
  
***  
  
"I wonder..."  
  
Two robots rolled into the room, carrying a tray of tea between them. "I wonder why Benjamin's such an idiot," muttered Sebastian, Mary's words reminding him that he hadn't fought with his counterpart for a very long time.  
  
"I wonder if we've come up with any better insults for each other yet?" asked Benjamin.  
  
"Now, now..." said Mary cheerily. She stood up and walked over to them, taking the tray gingerly. "It wouldn't be very nice of you to spill this all over Harry's carpet, would it?"  
  
"Oh," they said sheepishly. "Sorry."  
  
"I wonder..." began Mary again. "Do you think that Harry ever got that Leena girl to like him?"  
  
"I thought you didn't like her," said Benjamin confusedly.  
  
"No," agreed Mary. "But if that would've made Harry happy, then he'd have never left! You don't know how much I miss him."  
  
"Sure we do..." mumbled Sebastian, if a robot can mumble. "But in any case, we HAVE been winning more battles lately! Though he was a great friend... slash companion..."  
  
"But not very great at getting hot chicks to fall in love with him," Benjamin pointed out.  
  
Mary laughed. "Okay, enough, you two. It's so strange that father wasn't able to find him, but I suppose that wherever he is, Harry's happy. Maybe he even found some other girl, whom I'd approve of!" She clasped her hands together, dropping the tray. "Oops! The tea! The carpet!"  
  
"Ahh! Get some towels!" shouted Sebastian.  
  
"Why don't YOU get them?!!" argued Benjamin.  
  
"Now, now..." said Mary, trying to calm them down before any more damage was done.  
  
"I'LL get it."  
  
"Huh?" asked Mary, looking up from picking up the cups and putting them on her lounge's table. "Who are you-"  
  
Someone stepped out of the shadows. Mary gasped. "Please... don't kill us." Apparently, she had no idea who this was, but that didn't matter. "Just put down the gun..." she pleaded.  
  
He laughed. "Heck, no... I'm not gonna kill you, not just yet. I need you."  
  
"You mean, like a hostage?!!" cried Mary.  
  
He nodded. "Yeah... a hostage. I need to get revenge on a friend of yours."  
  
"He's probably a control freak or something," Benjamin whispered to Sebastian.  
  
"Wait!" shouted Mary. "Before you take me hostage, or whatever, I wanna know your name, please and thank you..."  
  
"Cid Marron, ever heard of me?"  
  
Mary and the two robots sweat-dropped. "No."  
  
Cid sighed. "Dang... That's okay. I've never really done a kidnapping job before, it's new to me."  
  
"A friend of mine... who is it you want to get revenge on?" asked Mary, quietly fingering a shard of broken teapot.  
  
"Harry Champ."  
  
She dropped it. "You mean, you know where she is?!!" cried Mary. "Oh, thank you ever so much! Is Harry alright?"  
  
"Sure, he's just great- hey!" shouted Cid. "Will you stop it?!! You're making me look bad!"  
  
"Aren't you?"  
  
"Just shut up..."  
  
"Not until you tell me why you want revenge on my little brother."  
  
"Dang you Champs, I can't stand this..."  
  
***  
  
Umms.... Dang Mary and her questions. She's making Cid look bad! Argh! I've wanted to kidnap her or something for a while. I dunno, it's just been one of my weird plans to mentally torment my characters... j/k. Though Harry'll probably freak when he sees Mary again.  
  
Want to read something more confusing? Try reading novels by Terry Pratchett (Discworld!!!). Can't get much more confusing than that.  
  
I wanted to write more in this chapter, but unfortunately, I have to write an essay and do a lab report for science and some annoying History homework that I've put all off until wonderful old Superbowl Sunday, even though I got Friday off. And I have to practice my violin, of, course, which I don't like to do much.  
  
I keep avoiding those Zoid battle things... And actually killing anyone. I was soooooooo close!!! Argh! Well... we better hope there's not much homework this week so I can write more. Before I completely forget about Mary, Naomi, Commander Altien, and Dr. Layon, which I keep doing.  
  
My attempts to get rid of some original characters (why won't they just go away?!!!) are basically attempts to bring back those normal characters. And Jamie! He hasn't even gotten an actual Zoid battle so far!  
  
BTW, I made my wonderfully stupid list thingy a while ago, but I can't get it to show up right when I upload it to FanFiction.net, since I do these in .doc format and am practically illiterate when it comes to html (hyper text marker language! yay!).  
  
I'm still waiting for something to make sense. 


	18. Ego Check

Chapter XVIII: Ego Check  
  
(methinks I'm the one who needs an ego check)  
  
"Please, just let me go!" cried Mary as Cid pushed her along down the hall.  
  
"Just shut up, will ya?!!" he pleaded. "At this rate I can't get anything done. Come on."  
  
"If you tell me why you want to get back at Harry, I'll shut up," said Mary forcefully. It was too bad that Cid had accidentally kinda sort of disabled Benjamin and Sebastian... they'd be fine, though. Eventually someone would find them...  
  
"Fine, just shut up!" shouted Cid. He calmed down a bit. Mary was getting on his nerves. Maybe he should just give up... And humiliate himself in front of his peers (peers? what peers? where?)?!!! NEVER!!! "I was kinda sorta on a mission to get rid of this girl."  
  
"You're a horrible man."  
  
"Thanks, I know," laughed Cid. "But when I got my chance your idiot brother interfered, so now I'm stuck kidnapping YOU to get revenge."  
  
"And why do you need revenge just because he saved a girl?" asked Mary. She smiled. So maybe Harry had found some girlfriend other than that Leena girl.  
  
"'Cause I was supposed to get a whole lot of money for that, but NO... and now I'm freaking broke!!!" Cid glared at her. What the heck was she trying to do, anyways?!!!  
  
Mary cocked her head. "Oh, you poor thing..." she said, clueless as ever. "I understand. If you need money, why don't you just take some of ours?!!"  
  
Cid fell over. "You've gotta be kidding me... What the heck am I doing?!!!!! I give up!"  
  
"Please, feel free! I have too much of it, anyways!"  
  
"Dang, you're crazy! Get away from me already!"  
  
"But why?!! You're just a sweet, misunderstood..." Mary rambled on as Cid tried to find his way out of the Champ team hangar, which was way too big in the first place. Darn, he thought. He could be happily fighting the Ultimate X, maybe, but no... he had decided to kidnap Mary Champ herself, and now...  
  
This definitely wasn't going very well. He needed to set his priorities straight. Destroy stuff first, try to kidnap extremely annoying and rich- but still pretty hot- girls later, when you were more experienced in the art of avoiding things like this. "HEY!!!" he shouted, trying to stop her from holding his hand.  
  
This was pure torture. When would it end?!!!  
  
***  
  
"Oh, Robert?" asked Kokoro as they approached the Ultrasaurus in their Zoids.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, hoping she wouldn't ask him something like "Why are you acting so strange?" or "Did you figure out what I am?"  
  
"Where did you say the Gravity Cannon is?" she said cheerily, eyes closed. The Gul Tiger and Spino Snapper stopped so that the two could get out. Robert opened his cockpit.  
  
"It's not much of a mystery," he said. "I mean, it's still on the Ultrasaurus. Where else would it be?"  
  
"Oh..." said Kokoro. She laughed. "I thought we were looking for it?"  
  
"Kind of..." mumbled Robert. He grinned. "See... it's underneath all that sand and rock, which will make it harder to get to."  
  
"Uh?"  
  
"So the real task will be finding some more shells to use."  
  
"Uh?!!"  
  
"When he was on the Ultrasaurus, Dr. D. wonderfully made another shell to fire at the Deathsaurer, which didn't work. I have a feeling that he made some more, but where would they be?" asked Robert.  
  
"Sheesh... I didn't think of that," said Kokoro. "Maybe there's some information in the Ultrasaurus's database?"  
  
"Yeah, maybe," shrugged Robert.  
  
"Oh! I forgot... Mr. Sephiroth probably needs some help."  
  
"Yeah..." mumbled Robert. He climbed out of the cockpit and went over to the Gul Tiger to make sure Kokoro got out safely. Mr. Sephiroth, huh?  
  
***  
  
"So, what now?" asked Sayo as the two stood outside of the hospital.  
  
"I already quit my job..." said Taro. "It was getting a little complicated."  
  
"Complicated? As in...?"  
  
"Well..." mumbled Taro. "I could tell that something was going to happen, and soon..."  
  
"Me too," said his sister quietly. "The Backdraft sucks... when did it come into their heads that they should experiment on little kids...?"  
  
"I dunno," answered Taro, shrugging. "It was pretty cowardly of them, if you ask me. Picking on little kids or defenseless people is just the same..."  
  
"The Zoid Battle Commission hasn't done very much about it, don't you think?"  
  
"Yeah, you're right, Taro..." said Sayo. She sighed sadly. "If only someone would get rid of the Backdraft... permanently."  
  
"Sayo?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I didn't say that."  
  
"Then who- Yoko! There you are..." Sayo smiled at his reappearance. He had helped her keep hoping that Taro was still out there, and they had been right. He was very alive.  
  
"It seems that you two have found each other," said Yoko, smiling. His black eyes glinted mischievously.  
  
"I know you didn't get a chance to tell me where Taro was, but we found each other just the same, thanks to you..." said Sayo. "If you hadn't shown up, I would've stopped looking a long time ago."  
  
"Sayo?" asked Taro nervously. "Who is this man?"  
  
"Oh..." said Sayo. "Taro, this is Yoko Minobe. Yoko, this is my twin brother, Taro. I'm very thankful for all of your efforts..."  
  
Yoko nodded. "It was my pleasure, let me assure you..."  
  
"I have this strange feeling..." Taro said to himself. "Minobe-san, are you a Zoidian?"  
  
"Please, Taro," said Yoko cheerily, "Just Yoko. There's no need to be formal. And no, I'm not a Zoidian; I'm just as human as you are."  
  
That wouldn't be very human... thought Taro. Considering that he knows what the Backdraft did to us, does he mean that literally? As in, he's human, but not completely...?  
  
Sayo blushed. "Yoko, I still can't thank you enough."  
  
"Sayo, please..." mumbled Taro. "The man said that no thanks was necessary." Of course, this was nothing like what he was thinking. That was more along the lines of "Who does this idiot think he is?!!!!" or "If he tries to hit on my sis he's dead meat!!!!" or "Heck, is she falling for this guy? I sure hope not..." It was probably closest to the last thought, since Taro knew that sure, he was a weakling. He'd been like that all his life, and he was proud of it.  
  
But when it came to speaking his mind, Taro was sure that eventually this Yoko guy would get it from him. Even if he knocked Taro out afterwards, but hey... it'd be worth it.  
  
***  
  
*"Yoko?" asked Kitai suspiciously, watching her playmate. "What're you doing?"  
  
"Nothing..." he mumbled, sitting in the cockpit of a Zoid that looked much like a winged unicorn.  
  
"If Neos finds you messing around with that Zoid, he'll probably kill you... Well, I guess Lori wouldn't let him do that, but he'd at least TRY to kill you. Or get back at you somehow."  
  
Yoko laughed. "My sis wouldn't let him hurt me, no matter how much of a brat I'm being..."  
  
"That's 'cause she's really nice and wouldn't want to see anyone get hurt, not even her worst enemy," muttered Kitai. "You Japanese can be so weird sometimes." She kicked a rock. "Why are we stuck on this dang planet, anyways?!! With all these Zoid things around, you'd think there'd be enough part s to repair the colonization ship and..."  
  
"I thought you loved it here?" asked Yoko.  
  
"I..." she began. "Yeah, I guess I do. It's just so strange here... I can't get used to it. But it's really nice, 'cause I actually have a family... that cares about me... only, the Zoidians. I feel so strange around them, so uncomfortable, even though I know that I'm somehow... meant to be here, you know?"  
  
"As far as I'm concerned, we're not MEANT to be here," muttered Yoko. "If Lori's and my parents hadn't disappeared on their dang exploration mission we might be at home, as a family, instead of her spending so much time getting to know Neos and Evelyn and learning about her dang Shield Liger, whatever she calls it."  
  
"Yoko?" asked Kitai curiously, braiding her white hair absent-mindedly. "Do you... hate the Zoids and Zoidians?"  
  
"What else is there to hate?" asked Yoko angrily.  
  
"Well, you could hate ME..."  
  
"Why? You're the only person I can confide in here."  
  
"Yeah, but you hate the inhabitants of Zi, and well... I think that somehow I'm related to them."  
  
"What, you're the link between Earth and Zi, and that's why you never got to know your parents? So you could live this new lifestyle without missing everything else?"  
  
"That's not totally what I meant, Yoko..."  
  
As they continued to talk, a black organoid watched with disgust. What the heck was that idiot DOING in the cockpit of the Orudios?!! The fool! Didn't he know that it was dangerous to mess with practically wild Zoids?!!!!!!!!!!!! It practically grinned. Hey, why not just teach the idiot a lesson?  
  
"You DO like Evelyn, don't you?" asked Kitai. She giggled. "You're so shy around her."  
  
"Hey!" cried Yoko. He glared, though red-faced. "That's personal, shut up about it."  
  
Kitai laughed some more before complying. The color drained from her face (the little color that was already there, at least. "Yoko?"  
  
"Yeah?" he asked.  
  
"Trust me, you might want to get out of the cockpit..."*  
  
The Dibison stopped next to the Hover Cargo, Liger stopping just behind it. A comlink popped up in front of Leena. "Leena?" asked Spring. "Where were you guys?!!"  
  
"Sorry we took so long..." mumbled Bit. He grinned. "We ran into a little trouble." Suddenly he remembered: the Deathstinger?!! Jenny- err, Sayo- had said something about it... "Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
"We're great, but..." Spring closed her eyes. "Now's not the best time to check things out."  
  
"Whaddaya mean?"  
  
"Something happened," she mumbled. "Dang..." Spring pressed a few keys and Bit could see another comlink appear next to her.  
  
He noticed that the voice belonged to Brad, whom he had completely forgotten about. "Hi, kid," said Brad. "It's Spring, right?"  
  
She nodded quietly, trying hard not to actually look at the comlink. "Yeah..." she mumbled.  
  
"If you're wondering about our friend Jamie, he'll be fine, but he's still unconscious."  
  
Spring smiled a little in relief. She closed the comlink and realized that Bit and Leena were still watching. "Oh..." she mumbled. "The Deathstinger got away, even against all of us... and those other Zoidians."  
  
"Are you saying that they got away too, or that-"  
  
"No, Elen, they were helping," said Spring crossly.  
  
"Hey, what did I do?" asked Bit, raising an eyebrow. "Anyways... we better get over there and help out, right?"  
  
"If you're sure..."  
  
The Liger Zero X was about to take a running leap across the gorge when he remembered that the Dibison couldn't jump very well. "Hey, what're you gonna do?" he asked.  
  
Leena shrugged. "I guess you could leave Dad, who seems to have fallen asleep, with me, and I'll try to figure out everything else from Spring."  
  
"Right." Bit turned around and looked at Dr. Toros. Yes, he had fallen asleep, which wasn't very helpful. He sighed. Technical geniuses were so typical. Liger lowered his head and opened the cockpit, waking Dr. Toros up.  
  
"Huh? Wha?" he asked drearily. "Oh, yes..."  
  
"Doc, we're at the Hover Cargo, so you're gonna stay here with Leena and Spring," Bit told him.  
  
Dr. Toros was too tired to argue. He crawled out of the cockpit and dropped down to the ground, lazily following Leena to his transport Zoid. Soon they were back in it, and Dr. Toros was absentmindedly playing with his models while explaining the Deathstinger's obvious battle plan.  
  
Spring wasn't going to bother to listen. Instead, she was fingering the wonderful old floppy disk that you've-heard-so-much-about. "Dr. Toros... don't you realize that your daughter's life is in danger?" she asked quietly.  
  
He didn't seem to have heard, but after a moment he lowered his toys and dropped them. "What do you mean...?"  
  
She immediately regretted saying anything. "Leena... she's one of the Chosen. The Chosen who're supposed to save Zi."  
  
"Unless they destroy it first," finished Dr. Toros. "However, I wouldn't say that she's in danger." He grinned.  
  
"Huh?" asked Spring, sitting up and turning to look at him. "But Kaiser Kage will do anything to kill all of the Chosen."  
  
"HA!" laughed Dr. Toros. "I'm not worried about my Leena. See... I know that Bit will protect her, because they love each other."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
***  
  
Ayumi Kroger was about to slap Eira when someone pushed her away. "HEY!!!!" she shouted, rubbing her arm. "Just who do you think you are?!!"  
  
"I THINK I'm Bit Cloud," he said, annoyed. Apparently she hadn't noticed the Liger Zero X jump over and rest near their Zoids. "What are you doing, picking on a kid (with no taste in color, he added to himself)?!!"  
  
Eira muttered something vile under her breath.  
  
"WHAT WAS THAT?!!!" yelled Bit and Ayumi.  
  
The pink-haired girl stood up. "I said, you two are both complete idiots. I don't think you'd want to know the full version."  
  
"Is this the kind of thanks I get...?" muttered Bit.  
  
"Ha, I deserved that slap," laughed Eira. "And I'd think you'd be very happy to let her..."  
  
"Wait a sec..." mumbled Bit. "Hey... You're that Eira girl! You're alive?"  
  
"Where else would I be?" asked Eira. "Don't you know who any of us are?!!!"  
  
"Well, I know YOU... but the others...?" he answered, indicating Ayumi as well as the other Zoids standing nearby.  
  
"You're more clueless than I thought!" she shouted. "Even more clueless than Harry Champ himself!!!"  
  
"Hey, don't make fun of Harry!" A white light landed nearby, and Kylie and Leena appeared. Leena squinted. She didn't really like all this organoid stuff. It gave her the creeps. "He's a great guy, at least sometimes," continued Kylie.  
  
"Fine," muttered Eira. "More clueless than MARY Champ. Better?"  
  
"Much."  
  
"Right;" Eira turned back to Bit. "See that green Liger Zero X over there?"  
  
Bit looked behind himself and, unfortunately, saw it. "Hey..." he muttered. "That thing attacked Doc."  
  
"You wouldn't happen to know its pilot, would you?" asked Leena deviously, instantly getting over her "jet lag."  
  
Ayumi quietly crept away, humming to herself. "Green LZX? What green LZX?" she recited under her breath. "I've never seen a green LZX in all my life..."  
  
Bit and Leena watched, sweat-dropping. Eira hit herself in the forehead. "Idiot," she muttered. Leena's eyes lit up in anger. "HEY YOU, GET BACK HERE!!!!!!!!" she shouted, breaking into a run. Ayumi gave up and began to run towards her Zoid. "DANGDANGDANGDANGDANG!!!!" she shouted vulgarly. Leena was already plotting what she was going to do to Ayumi when she would finally catch her.  
  
"Listen, Bit," said Eira finally, the amusement gone. "As you probably already heard, yeah, the Deathstinger's back."  
  
"Yeah, I've heard that a few times..." muttered Bit. What an understatement, he thought.  
  
"Brad called the ZBC, but they're not here yet," continued Eira. "But it did what it was planning on all along, and now... something's... happened."  
  
"How descriptive of you," muttered Bit. This wasn't helping. "Listen, is there anything we can do?"  
  
"You're asking me?" asked Eira in surprise. How... interesting! "Well... I guess you could help Brad bring your Wild Eagle friend back to your transport. And.. I hate to ask this, but... is there enough room in that thing for Orudios and Hitoshi's Zoid? I don't think they'll be up and working again without a lot of maintenance."  
  
"Sure..." said Bit, watching Leena still tirelessly trying to reach Ayumi. "Hey Kylie, why don't you go ask Doc- Kylie?" he asked. "She was right over... there..." Bit's face was blank as he stared at Kylie.  
  
She was  
  
Well, she wasn't really doing ANYTHING. Which was why Bit was worried. "Err, Kylie?" he asked.  
  
Kylie looked to the sand for help. "Bit.. Onii-san..."  
  
"Yeah...?" he began. Please, please, PLEASE don't tell me that you're in love or something! he thought to himself.  
  
"I..." started Kylie. She stopped.  
  
*"Yoko!!!" shouted Kitai as her friend turned around to stare in disbelief at the organoid behind him. It growled evilly and fused with the Orudios, closing the cockpit.  
  
"What?!!" he cried. "HEY!!!"*  
  
"...don't know how to tell you this," finished Kylie. She laughed a little. "I mean... I don't think that... we're really..."  
  
"Don't say that," said Bit. Please, Kylie. I spent five years looking for you only to lose you again. And now that you're back for the second time, please don't tell me that you're leaving again!!!  
  
"...brother and sister..." muttered Kylie. "Please, you have to understand me."  
  
What the heck are they talking about? Eira though.  
  
"Kylie..." muttered Bit. He sounded as though in pain (ahhhhh...... poor guy...). "That locket is all the proof I need!"  
  
"No, you don't get it!" shouted Kylie suddenly. "You don't understand!!! The locket has nothing to do with this, it doesn't mean anything!!!!"  
  
"It means that we're a family..."  
  
"(EXPLETIVE)(you can only guess what she originally said), Bit, just shut the heck up."  
  
"Err... Kylie?" said Bit. "You just swore. Very vulgarly, not like the not- so-horrible-sounding stuff we usually say, like 'dang' or 'darn.'"  
  
"I noticed," answered Kylie angrily. "I know what I just said and I hope you don't have a problem with it."  
  
*Kitai swore, very badly and very loudly. Then she swore again because she swore. Then she gave up trying NOT to swear, even though she knew it wasn't a very desirable thing to do.*  
  
Hey, sibling rivalry, thought Eira. Makes me glad that I'm an only child.  
  
*Now Yoko was swearing. Actually, yelling for help, but the sentences were so cluttered with swear words that you couldn't really tell the difference. Where was Lori, that soft idiot, when you needed her?!! Probably off on a picnic somewhere!*  
  
***  
  
At this point Loriena smirks to herself and lurks off to play videogames, leaving it up to you to wonder why there wasn't really anything important in this chapter and why she hasn't resolved her problem with Akira, or what she thinks about looking forward state writing tests, or why she got a snow day on both Monday and Wednesday but NOT on Tuesday, or why she has to read "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" instead of wonderful old "Treasure Island" like most of those other lucky, lucky, stupid classmates of hers, or why she's been neglecting her homework as of late but gets away with it anyways even though she's smart enough to actually do it. Or maybe even why she didn't re-read this chapter and will probably suffer because of it!!! MWAHAHA- err...  
  
Maybe it's because I've been listening to too much J-pop (weehee!!! Ayumi Hamasaki!!!!), repeating myself more than usual, and wasting my time on the computer to read the 8-bit Theater at nuklearpower.com or copying the lyrics to many of the songs on our computer at animelyrics.com?  
  
Note: He he... I *might* eventually reread this and, he he, change some things, for the sake of my paranoia of being criticized, though so many people are much nicer than that : )  
  
Ah well... I'm going to *try* to remind myself that HEY!!! THIS STORY BETTER NOT GET ANY MORE CONFUSING, YOU DOLT!!!! Or something else. Hopefully something else. That'd take some work.  
  
Or maybe it could be because she realizes that today she was supposed to go and read Chapter 2 of Jekyll and Hyde, even though there was a snow day, and knows that she really didn't understand anything at all from the first chapter, except that Mr. Hyde has this unusual habit of trampling over poor innocent little girls and not even noticing?  
  
Or because she's confused this story with the mass of other ones that should be written down on paper? (and is trying to keep the pre-conceived ending the same because she's written like 30 or so pages of the sequel to the sequel to the sequel (if you start at the very beginning)?)?  
  
Or because she thinks that this cloning thing on the news lately is trash and not true (but will be proved wrong?)?  
  
Or because...  
  
Please ignore the useless, endless rants that plague this story, which would be much shorter than the over-a-hundred-pages that it's grown to be without them.  
  
Hating Yoko (EVIL BRAT!!!)... trying to suppress the hate... can't... getting an uncontrollable urge to take over the world...  
  
...and FanFiction.net....  
  
...and the rest of the internet...  
  
...and Zi............. 


	19. I Wonder

Chapter XIX: I Wonder...  
  
"I didn't think diving would be quite this... hard." (back to the quotes that may-not-actually-be-in-the-story and the divey things! what's with those anyways?!!!)  
  
O Happy Days, both of my frequent reviewers have returned after my three months and five days of internet deprivation and I intend to keep them here for good!  
  
Considering that I don't scare either away with endless ranting, too many characters, strange concepts, and confusedness (which is an actual, spelled correctly word).  
  
Enjoy!!!  
  
***  
  
"Taro, what's wrong?" whispered Sayo as Yoko began to walk off. "You're acting so... strange..."  
  
"Something's not right about him," said Taro, reluctantly. He looked at the ground. They were still just outside of the hospital, but he knew. He could tell! They wouldn't be together for all that long. Still, just to be sure that both were alive was good enough... wasn't it?  
  
Sayo laughed a little. "To think that I spent these last few days yelling and yelling and yelling at some Dr. Toros guy... And you were only a few buildings away!"  
  
"Dang it, I forgot about something." Taro glared, Yoko having come back. If the guy was a psychic Taro was dead. Ah, well... "It seems that neither of you have jobs anymore?" continued Yoko, not paying much attention to him.  
  
Sayo nodded. "Yeah... I'm just not cut out to be a nurse. It's not worth it. And Taro-"  
  
"Ah..." interrupted Yoko. "It doesn't pay that well, either. Listen, I met someone recently who could get you positions in the Sandstorm Unit, a little undercover ZBC thingy devoted to uncovering the Backdraft."  
  
"Say no more, we're in!" shouted Sayo and Taro, however much he already hated this Yoko person. Perhaps he wasn't really a friend with whoever was in charge of the Sandstorm Unit.  
  
***  
  
Dive into the mind...  
  
"Kylie-chan," mumbled Bit. "Are you alright? Suddenly you're so hostile."  
  
"I didn't think diving would be quite this... hard, this painful..." answered Kylie. She managed a little smile. Though she was almost convinced that they had no relation whatsoever, Bit was willing to prove that they were. And if he was that determined, why ruin his dream that someone in his family was still alive? "Diving into my past, I mean..."  
  
"Err..." began Bit. "Right..."  
  
"If it helps, I DO still have my locket," said Kylie. "Even though I don't think I'm really part of your family, really a Cloud. By blood."  
  
"It doesn't really help..." he said quietly. "But answer me this, why are you telling me this now? Why not back at the hospital? I mean-"  
  
"I..." started Kylie. She hesitated. "I've suddenly been so overcome with... feelings, and... I know that the Deathstinger's back, so... That means that even though we're not related by blood, it could happen! Again!"  
  
"What could-" He lowered his eyes, remembering. It'd been twice. Or maybe more, he wasn't really counting. "Oh. So you're acknowledging the fact that we could still be a family?"  
  
"It's like you and the Blitz team," laughed Kylie. "Only... we've known each other longer. Better."  
  
"You still can't possibly convince me that our Mom and Dad never had a second child," he said, almost as stubborn as Leena usually was.  
  
Umm... thought Eira Champ, still watching. I'll just pretend I understand, like I usually do.  
  
"Mm," agreed (mm isn't a word, but it doesn't show up as a word that's spelled wrong...) Kylie, grinning. "Sorry I swore at you, but it's so hard to explain. I'm confused, myself..."  
  
"These days, we all are."  
  
*"Neos!!!" shouted Kitai franticly, climbing up the rocky hill. She'd been running for a while now, hoping that by the time she got back to Yoko and the Orudios nothing had happened... But what could a Zoid do to its pilot, anyways? There was no telling- this planet was so strange.  
  
"Huh?" The green-haired boy was standing at the top of the hill, watching a blue Shield Liger in the distance. "What is it?" he asked, studying her frightened face.  
  
"Yoko," she began, panting. "He... huff huff... was in the Orudios, and... heave heave... Some crazy black organoid fused with it and locked him in the cockpit."  
  
"He deserves it," answered Neos, shrugging. "But if it worries you that much... I mean, why was he in my cockpit in the first place?!! And what could happen to him when there aren't any other Zoids around to fight it?"  
  
"I have this feeling that this will be one of the worst things to ever happen in our unfolding history of humanity on this planet," mumbled Kylie, exaggerating it for the sake of her friend's life.  
  
"And are your feelings usually right?"  
  
"Yeah, just do something!"  
  
"You should be asking his sister," muttered Neos, frowning. He waved towards the Shield Liger, which stopped its pointless frolicking. "Hey, Lori!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth in an effort to be heard.  
  
"Lori!!!" joined in Kitai, jumping up and down.  
  
It wasn't long before the pilot got the message and the Zoid started running over. Kitai sighed with relief. If they were too late, then...*  
  
***  
  
Dive into the heart...  
  
"So you probably have information on the Backdraft, right?"  
  
Sayo nodded at the young man sitting at his desk. He grinned, adjusting his glasses. "Great... we need some more people who've been with them before. And you obviously seem to need a job that pays, so... With the recommendations from Mr. Yoko... you're in." He stood up.  
  
Neither of the twins had gotten a good look at him until now. Naturally, he didn't look like much of a diplomat slash politician, though that seemed to be his job. Maybe there was more to it than this.  
  
"Err..." mumbled Taro, watching him rummage through a rather messy filing cabinet. "May I ask what you're looking for?"  
  
"WHERE ARE THOSE DANG STICKY NOTE THINGS?!!!!!" he shouted, very much unorganized and thus frustrated to an exhausting extent.  
  
"I think they'd be on your desk, sir."  
  
He ran his fingers through his unkempt reddish-brown hair thoughtfully. "Oh... he he... thanks." It wasn't hard to tell that his face had reddened from embarrassment. "And please, don't call me sir..."  
  
Sayo noticed that, his office and however short his temper, he seemed to actually only be about 19 or so and not very experienced in this field. "Then what should we call you?" she asked, watching those brown eyes dart back and forth to find much-needed sticky notes.  
  
"Err... (when you've run out of good names, simply resort to those of your reviewers or just stop adding more characters) just Damion..." He smiled, scratching his head nervously.  
  
"Umm..." began Sayo and Taro. "Right," said Taro after a moment of silence. "That's fine with me, Damion."  
  
"I wonder..." thought Sayo out loud as they left the office hurriedly. "D'you think Yoko-"  
  
"I don't care about Yoko!" shouted Taro. "He's getting on my nerves, don't make me hate him any more than I already do."  
  
"You're jealous, aren't you?" asked Sayo sadly, though sounding somewhat amused.  
  
"WHAT?!!" he cried. "How could I be jealous of some-"  
  
"I don't blame you for hating me, I've made a lot of enemies over the years." The many years it's been, added Yoko in his thoughts as he walked up to them. "So how'd it go?"  
  
*Yoko sat staring at the control panel of the Zoid, hopelessly. What was there to do? And what did this organoid hope to gain, anyways? There was nothing that it could do to him... but the Zoidians were always saying that if you didn't know how to pilot your Zoid, it could be more dangerous to you than to anybody else.  
  
There was nothing else for him to do but... think. How many years had it been, anyways? Three? They'd only been on Zi for one of these, but it had been that long since he'd began to hate humanity, however human he may have been himself. There was so much ignorance. Ignorance was what had killed his parents. Ignorance of the dangers of exploring the universe. Curiosity... A love of knowing things, of explaining the unexplained. Emotions. Before that horrible day his heart had always told him what to do. He was beginning to doubt that he even had a legitimate heart.  
  
There he went again, questioning what he knew was the real truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Emotions... dang them! Dang the incompetence of this foolish species.  
  
Lori didn't deserve him as a brother. She'd done so much to help everyone get used to being stranded on this planet. It had been their original destination, but still... knowing that you'd probably never get a chance to go back home, to their real home, was a crushing blow to anyone. And Yoko hadn't done anything but sulk and all that. So what... he was only, like, ten years old, anyways. Pretty smart for his age, but still only ten.  
  
This was too young of an age to die! He couldn't do this to himself. He couldn't let this organoid lock him up in here... and... and do whatever it was planning on. He couldn't let it do this to Lori!!! For heavens sake, she went and got ENGAGED to one of those Zoidians they had found!!! And was he happy for her? Sure! Had he shown it?!!!! No!!! Such an idiot, such a-  
  
Realizing that he was probably worse than any of the other idiots stuck here, Yoko strained to hold back his tears. What a selfish brat he had been to his sister, and yet she still loved him way too much. He could never forgive himself for this.*  
  
"Heck, I hate me, too."  
  
"You're crazy," mumbled Taro. If his sister was falling for this idiot... which she wasn't, he assured himself...  
  
*"Sayo?" asked Taro in fright, watching as she tried to fix the Helcat. "Are we gonna get out of here?"  
  
Sayo stood up in the cockpit of the Zoid. She stared at him, solemnly, blank faced. "Why are you always like this..."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"So scared...?" she mumbled.  
  
"We're in the middle of escaping the Backdraft from one of their own Whale Kings and our Zoid just suddenly stopped working! Of course I'm scared half to death that we won't get out of here- a- aliv- dang it."  
  
"But you're ALWAYS like this... you try to hide it, but..." Sayo was tearful. "Taro..."  
  
"Please, Sayo..." started Taro. "Don't YOU go crying. I'm the one who always cries. I-"  
  
"I wanna know why you cry, Taro!" cried Sayo. (At this point the author starts to cry because of her miserable efforts to write this part, her bashing of herself, the scene going through her head at this moment is much better and sadder than what has been typed, and because she knows she has to read more of that dang Jekyll and Hyde book this weekend. Or maybe it has something to do with whatever song I'm listening to... ah yes... probably) "I know why you do this."  
  
"I- is it fixed, Sayo?" he asked, trying to stop her.  
  
"Please, Taro! Listen to me!" persisted his sister. "Tell me, please!"  
  
"It's because..." began Taro. He knew that Commander Altiel would be there soon, to stop them. Ever since Nanase had left, he'd been more careful, making sure he knew where they were at all times, watching for anything suspicious during battles... And ever since she'd left, they'd all been rethinking things. Not just Sayo and Taro, but the others, too. Even Altiel's own brother. "Because I don't want to lose you like we lost Mom and Dad in that fire or whatever they say it was!"  
  
Sayo seemed to smile through her tears, laughing shakily. "Oh, Taro... I don't want to lose you, either, but somehow I know that nothing can keep us apart from each other-"  
  
Nothing except the Backdraft, maybe. Commander Altiel burst into the hangar just in time to make a threat. Of course, neither were listening. They were grinning. He watched Sayo sit back down into the Helcat, which suddenly seemed to be working properly, and turn it around to fire a hole at the end of the Whale King's closed "mouth." He held onto the railing, not wanting to be swept outside by the strange vacuum that was created (I think that'd be what happens when a Whale King is flying and someone shoots a hole in it, right...?).  
  
"Taro! C'mon!" shouted Sayo.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, unsure of what to do.  
  
"Just jump!" she tried.  
  
Well, he was about to jump. But something unexpected happened.  
  
"Don't do it-" cried Dr. Scott as he was dragged into the hangar with the Kokoro girl by some other annoying officials. "Please don't-"  
  
Commander Altiel laughed. "Ha, there you are! These two are practically committing suicide, trying to get out of a moving Whale King in the middle of the sky with just a Helcat. It'd be much safer for them to just stay here, don't you think?"  
  
"Dang it," muttered Sayo. "Taro!" she shouted. "Before it's too late!"  
  
"It already is," laughed Altiel. "How could you two even think of escaping in your condition?"  
  
Taro hesitated. "Sayo, I... I really wanna jump but I can't!!!"  
  
"What?!!" cried Sayo. "Taro! Our lives depend on this!!!"  
  
"I... I know, but..." muttered Taro, holding onto a rail for dear life. "I..."  
  
"Uh?" asked Kokoro, watching them as Dr. Scott held her close. "I don't understand..."  
  
"Hey, Kokoro!" shouted Commander Altiel. "Do your stuff already!"  
  
"W- what?" asked Kokoro.  
  
"I won't let you make her-" began Dr. Scott.  
  
***  
  
Kokoro rested her chin in her hands as she watched Robert and Sephiroth trying to get the huge Zoid to work. She smiled. It hadn't been all that long and already they seemed like they knew each other perfectly. Wow...  
  
*"W- what do you mean?" cried Kokoro, staring at the Commander with wide eyes. He glared at them. "Why do you think we even funded my brother's project?!! There was a reason, you know!!!"  
  
"C'mon, Taro, while he's distracted," said Sayo. Her brother hesitated once again.*  
  
"Uh?" asked Kokoro, standing up from her chair.  
  
"Kokoro?" asked Robert and Sephiroth.  
  
"I..." she began. "I think... I need a little rest."  
  
"Right," agreed Robert. "You've been up all night, trying to help, but..."  
  
She smiled innocently. "I guess I really haven't done much, huh?" Kokoro giggled nervously. "But still, we need to get this thing up and running really fast... before... it's back again."  
  
Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah. We all need a rest, but-"  
  
"I'll go get you some coffee, or something," smiled Kokoro.  
  
"They have coffee on this thing?" asked Robert. "It's probably gone bad-"  
  
"No... that's alright, I'm looking anyways," assured Kokoro. "I bet there's a kitchen or something around here... if there's enough power to open doors, there's enough power to make coffee, yeah?"  
  
*"I- I don't wanna!" pleaded Kokoro, struggling to get away from Altiel. "Please! Let me go!"  
  
"Tell me, do you WANT your two friends to die?!!" he shouted angrily.  
  
"Craig, please, I haven't finished programming-" began Dr. Scott.  
  
"Enough with you and your programming, enough with your love of trying to make things that aren't living live!!!" yelled Craig. "I don't understand you, Scott! You lost both your wife and your children- can't you just let them go? You knew that you'd lose this one, too!"  
  
"I... I... friends?" stammered Kokoro. "What are you talking about?!! Just- "  
  
"Taro! Now!" shouted Sayo. "Please, I can't wait much longer!"  
  
The hole in the Whale King was slowly growing bigger, large chunks of metal pulling off of it and being chucked out into the rain, down onto the wet sand. The vacuum grew slightly stronger. The Helcat strained to keep itself from being pulled out. "Taro!" cried Sayo. "You have to get in now, or- Ahh!"  
  
One of the railings was practically pulled out of the hangar's bridgey thing and hit the Helcat. However small it was, it was enough. Sayo closed the cockpit as the Helcat was pulled out.  
  
"Sayo!" cried Dr. Scott. Taro stared in silent disbelief, his face white. He felt sick.  
  
"L- let go!" shouted Kokoro, wrenching herself free and trying to run. This was impossible, so she had to pull herself along the remaining rails as quickly as possible. "What are you doing, Craig?" hissed Dr. Scott. "You're going to get us all killed if you don't leave her alone."  
  
"Ha, YOU'RE threatening me, of all people?" asked Craig.  
  
"S- Sayo, you'd better be okay..." mumbled Taro. Nothing could possibly kill his sister, she was too strong-willed, wasn't she...*  
  
"Ooh..." mumbled Kokoro when she had closed the door behind her. "My head, it's... so..." She shook it, sighing. "I'll be fine, I just need to find a kitchen or something. There should be one, somewhere around here..."  
  
*Kokoro had found a control panel. She still wasn't sure what Altiel had wanted, but who cared? He wasn't her mentor OR her authority, Dr. Scott was. He said that... that Altiel was just a control freak, to stay away from him. Even though they were brothers. They obviously resented each other. Scott had once before mentioned something about him having already betraying another family member, that he wouldn't be tricked so easily.  
  
Well...  
  
"Please, forgive me, Dr. Scott!" cried Kokoro.  
  
"For what?" he shouted back, trying to be heard over the wind.  
  
"I can't- I- I know you don't want me to listen to the Commander, but if I don't, what're we gonna do?" she asked.  
  
Altiel smiled in triumph. How interesting this girl was... this AI system was. So loyal to her creator, not wanting him to get hurt or killed, though she probably had no idea what she was anyways. If he could get rid of Dr Scott, there may be a chance that he could... manipulate her into being a REAL Backdraft agent! And it would work, too, he bet! Just like all his other plans... err... scratch that.  
  
"I know that- that you want me to do something with this," said Kokoro, staring at the controls. "But... how?"  
  
"Kokoro!" cried Scott, "No, you don't need to anymore, the Helcat already got away!"  
  
The Zoid rocked and some lights went off, a siren blaring. That hole was causing a problem. They'd have to get out of there, back into the other rooms, before-  
  
"Let her do it anyways!" contradicted his broth, shrugging. He laughed crazily. "Ha! Not like it'll make a difference. Consider it this way! Eventually, she'll have to anyways! You know the Committee's intentions!"  
  
"What's wrong with you?!!" shouted Dr. Scott. "Are you out of your mind?!!"  
  
"Apparently so, Scott, apparently so."*  
  
***  
  
"Harry," asked Fay once again, "Are you sure you want to find the Deathstinger, and Kage, that you wanna find out what this 'conspiracy' is all about?"  
  
He nodded silently. Yeah, that and find Kylie and Leena. That was all he wanted right now. And his job not to disappear, of course, which it probably would anyway. Ah well, it was worth it, if all of this was true.  
  
"Well, then..." she began. "We better get in our Zoids... We'll need them, surely."  
  
"Uh? So where are we going?" asked Harry. "You KNOW where they all are?"  
  
"Am I supposed to?" answered Faye with another question. "I guess I do. Most people would, something this important." She shrugged, climbing into the Salamander's cockpit. "Coming or not?"  
  
"Where exactly are we going?" he shouted.  
  
"We? I'm going to where the Deathstinger was, duh, to see Hitoshi, so if you want to follow me, be my guest!"  
  
"Umm..." started Harry. He sighed. Everything was so... rushed these days. Well, he had nothing better to do, and he had a strange feeling that it wouldn't be very long before he had to confront Bit once and for all and WIN LEENA'S HEART BACK!!! Err, he he... Maybe not, but hey, you couldn't stop a guy from dreaming old dreams, even if he was starting to have new ones. Old love dies hard, after all. "Hey, wait, I'm coming!" he shouted struggling to get to his Zoid before Faye's could take off.  
  
She grinned. What an idiot, she thought. Oh well, you couldn't blame someone like him for wanting to be where the action was.  
  
***  
  
"Why aren't they here yet?" muttered Brad angrily, leaning against a wall of the Hover Cargo's lounge. How long had it been, anyways, a few hours at least?  
  
"I guess you can't rush the ZBC," said Hitoshi, shrugging. "Sometimes allies aren't really... well, your best allies."  
  
"Whatever." Bit walked in, followed by Kylie. "I'm guessing Leena's still chasing whatshername."  
  
"Prob'ly," agreed Kylie. "They'll get tired of it, eventually. Either that or they'll just get wet."  
  
It had started to rain not all that long ago, forcing them all to take cover in the confined spaces of Dr. Toros' transport, which wasn't a very good idea. They still had a lot of grudges, of course, so being this close to each other for this long without snapping was pure torture.  
  
"Yeah, well..." mumbled Spring. "I wonder how Neos is?"  
  
Jamie was holding an ice pack to his head. "If any of us have gone crazy from this, he has."  
  
"I can't help but feel sorry for him!" Eira shrugged, looking out the window. "I mean.. I've always hated him, an' wanted revenge for whatever dumb reason I could come up with, but now, because of me this all happened..."  
  
"Because of you?" asked Kylie, sitting down on the sofa. "If you hadn't done what you did, Kage would've gotten to the Deathstinger first and things would be even worse." Eira glared for a moment, and then sighed.  
  
"I admit it..." she muttered. "I suck at this. Zoids and all that."  
  
"If you suck at it, then how could you have almost blown us all to heck?" asked Bit.  
  
They sweat-dropped. Okay, so he had a point.  
  
"I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this," said Hitoshi, standing back up. "Obviously we're all still enemies, but we all agree with one thing, right? We're not gonna work for Kage anymore and we'll do whatever it takes to get rid of him and the Deathstinger. I'm not sitting around to wait for it to suddenly surprise us while all of our Zoids aren't operable, 'cept the Liger Zero X and that Dibison."  
  
"Of course not," said Sylvia, who didn't seem to be paying much attention until now. "There's no telling what it's doing now."  
  
"Hey," said Jamie. "Excuse me for interrupting, but where's Sephiroth and Vivian gone to?"  
  
***  
  
"I wonder..." began Vivian, sitting in the cockpit of her Zoid. "...why am I even bothering? It's not like I really care about anything on Zi, anyways. So why do I want to stop the Deathstinger?"  
  
She stared out at the rain. There was barely anything she could do, anyways. By the time she found the pilots she needed half the world would probably already gone. So why bother?  
  
Why?!! Well, duh!  
  
Why not? Vivian grinned. By Zoids Eve, she was getting good at this 'I- don't-freaking-care-what-I-am, I can still love someone' thing. Only, this wasn't doing much good. Adrian... he... didn't (she cringed) love her anyways. He liked Sylvia, of course, and that was so obvious. So why bother?  
  
Why not?  
  
***  
  
Dive into... well, heck, just defeat the Deathstinger already so we can end this part of the story. At least TRY.  
  
Kylie watched them argue with each other quietly. Well... this was about as close to home as she'd ever be able to get. She stood up and walked out of the room and down the hall. No one noticed. They were all too busy trying to prove the others wrong about nothing in particular.  
  
Kylie opened the door to Dr. Toros' room and stood there, watching him tinker with his models for a while. He was so focused on it that he didn't notice her, either. She sighed. So what had happened back there, why had she suddenly decided to say all that to Bit? why was everything starting to come back NOW, after she had already determined that her family was Bit's?  
  
She moved on down the hall, looking into another room.  
  
"Hey..." mumbled Neos, sitting next to the bed where they had put Akira. "It's Kylie, right?"  
  
Kylie nodded, walking in. "Mmhmm... but you might know me better as Kitai..."  
  
Neos looked surprised. "Oh... do y'know what's gonna happen to her? Is Akira gonna die because I wouldn't let Twilight...?"  
  
"She..." began Kylie. Why was he asking HER this, of all people? How was she supposed to know?  
  
Suddenly, unexpectedly, Kylie reached out and put her hand on Neos's shoulder. "Neos Vert... I don't know," she said quietly. "Not only that, but I also don't know who I really am, though I thought I did for almost two years. I don't know why any of this is happening, why now, why here. I don't know why I'm here except that... it's all meant to be, I guess."  
  
Neos lowered his eyes. Yeah... she was probably right. So why did he have this horrible feeling that it was all his fault, in the end? Why was he starting to think that this was all pointless? That, no matter what he did, Kage would get away with it all?  
  
Kylie watched Akira. It was strange, really... it was a miracle that after what she had been doing she'd been able to tap into her Zoidian powers and make that shield work. Now it'd take another miracle for her to live. And yet another for Kylie to finally learn the truth behind all this.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Cid tried to find a way out of the Champ team's base before Mary talked him to death. At least he was slowly getting used to it.  
  
***  
  
Another Meanwhile, Leena, however wet she was, was still pursuing after Ayumi for trying to kill Dr. Toros.  
  
***  
  
Weehee...  
  
I wonder... why DO I bash myself, anyways? If anyone was ever to flame this story it'd probably me. I don't think I'd go that far, though. Sheesh. It must have something to do with the fact that I'm weird and have an abnormal fear of criticism, so I criticize myself before anyone else can? Who knows.  
  
On another note, YAY!!!! So happy! I actually have an idea of where this is going and like it! And that doesn't happen all to often, mind you. It's taking a little longer to get chapters going now that I've run out of all the stuff I wrote during the IDP (internet deprivation period).  
  
Ah yes, me friend Mike says that they're adding another anime on Toonami... .Hack//Sign... We have the first episode of .hack//lliminality or somethin' on our computer; I watched it. I think they're related... ah well, it was cool anyways.  
  
When thinking of why on Zi I would bash myself, why do I keep adding more characters?!!!!! I guess it's become a habit. I spend a lot of time during school not paying any attention to the lesson whatsoever and just... thinking.  
  
19 chapters... 118 pages... nice. To think that I started my first Zoids story only last July. Ja ne, watashi no tomodachi!!! which should say "later, my friends!!!" though it probably doesn't. Or, I could say, a bientot, mes amis! which DOES say "see you later, my friends!" (in French) if you put in the accents! Weehee!  
  
Which reminds me (don't know how, though)... I've forgotten about my intentions to introduce Liger's other new armor, which we all know as Elen... star... Spring's nickname for Bit. I'm working on that.  
  
No more rants; later!!! 


	20. Side Story I: More Insignificant Charact...

Side Story I: More Insignificant (or so we hope!) Characters.  
  
"You lived here? How come you never told me that?"  
  
"It was a long time ago... I didn't wanna remember..."  
  
BTW: Apparently, New Helic and Guyglos are on completely different continents. Zoids Eve probably is, too. I'll just pretend that both cities were destroyed by the original Deathstinger/saurer anyways, so they rebuilt them closer together, so they could protect Zoids Eve and the wrecked Ultrasaurus... Mwahaha...  
  
***  
  
The ruins of Guyglos were empty as always; lonely and deserted. It had only been two years since their destruction, and yet no one had attempted to rebuild the old Empire's capital city. Perhaps it was to commemorate all of the lives that had been lost in such a vain quest for revenge. Revenge... for what? For nothing! It wasn't even a good reason!!!  
  
What had those two fools been thinking? Didn't they care at all? These lives... you couldn't just go and throw them away... So many of them were still quite young. They hadn't learned what life was about yet. They hadn't been given a chance.  
  
There wasn't even enough time to evacuate... Only a select few had gotten out. Survival of the fittest...? No, it was only survival of the luckiest. And those lucky few had sworn on that day that they would find some way to avenge their families and friends... no matter what the cost... even if it meant joining such a horrible group as the Backdraft...  
  
They knew that there was something wrong with this, though. They'd just be repeating what Neos and Eira had done. They'd be taking more innocent lives for their own benefit. Their conscious' wouldn't be able to live with that guilt.  
  
But did they feel the same way? Neos and Eira? Did they understand what they had done, and what was wrong with it? If they did, and were sincerely sorry for it, then perhaps they were decent people after all... but... If they hadn't learned from this, if they still didn't care, then... Then they were horrible.  
  
Murderers. Monsters...  
  
Cowards!!! Only cowards could do such a thing and still live with it! What was wrong with them?!! Didn't they have families?!! Didn't they understand how it felt to lose so many loved ones because of one person's stubborn persistence?!!!  
  
Well, didn't they...?  
  
Maybe they did...  
  
A single blood-red rose blew past in the wind. Someone was chasing it, annoyed. Apparently, this wasn't a good time for a sandstorm to start. It had been such a peaceful day so far, but now all that was ruined.  
  
"Sheesh, and I thought today would be a good day to sit down and think back on the past," mutter Mai Vert, watching her friend retrieve the flower. She should've picked off the thorns before they came here with the others. His hands were bandaged now. Stupid, stupid thorns.  
  
"There can never be a good day to 'think back on the past,' " contradicted another boy. He watched as well, though he didn't look like he was going to laugh. Mai could barely hold her laughter in. They had gotten so far in the past two years and could still barely hold on to such things.  
  
By the time their friend got back, the wind had grown stronger. "I guess we can't do this today..." he mumbled. "And after all the trouble of grabbing this thing before it disappeared forever..."  
  
Mai gently plucked it out of his grip. "Yes, it's a shame. I was really looking forward to this... for Dad."  
  
"So what're you gonna do now that the Guild broke up?" asked the more serious-looking boy. "That was your life... And now that it's gone?"  
  
"I don't know," she muttered. "It doesn't matter. Listen, Hunter, I met this girl the other day..."  
  
"Stop calling me Hunter..." he grunted. "You're doing it on purpose. You know I hate it."  
  
"Isn't that the point?" asked the one who had been chasing after the flower.  
  
"Shut up, Murasaki!" shouted Mai, slapping him in the back.  
  
"Ow," he said.  
  
Keith Hunter looked down at the graves in front of them. "Dang... it's already been two years and we still haven't done anything. What now?"  
  
The repair girl shrugged. "I don't know... Murasaki was really the only one of us who actually lived here for at least a year or so... we just knew most of the people here, that's all. I mean, it's still up to us to make things right, but it's mostly his decision."  
  
"I lived here once..." said a new voice.  
  
"Seki-chan?" asked Mai. "You lived here? How come you never told me that?"  
  
"It was a long time ago... I didn't wanna remember..."  
  
"Anyways," put in Murasaki, stressing the word. "Maybe we should-"  
  
"Seki, have you seen that girl?" interrupted Mai. Murasaki glared. "What a great friend you are," he muttered.  
  
"You mean Eve?"  
  
"Evelyn, yeah," said Mai. "I had something to ask her. We all did."  
  
"I have a bad feeling about her," said Mura, ignoring the fact that probably no one was listening to him. "Like an omen or something... Something's just not right. She's not like us..."  
  
"No one's like us." Keith shrugged. Murasaki looked surprised. He had been... listening...? "Who cares? We want the same thing. Peace on Zi, right? So Evelyn is a little... strange... but she needs us and we need her."  
  
"Why can't we just go home, away from all of this? Why do we have to keep fightin'?!!" cried Seki, her voice suddenly shrill and tearful. They turned and looked at her.  
  
Seki was barely ten. It seemed that the best Zoid pilots were getting younger and younger. She was the youngest of the group, and usually the most vulnerable, but still the most loyal to the cause. She always seemed to solemnly understand, and had never questioned their motivation before. They all cared about her like she was really their little sister, but knew barely anything about her. Heck, none of them knew anything about their friends. Sometimes the pressure must have been too much for the brown- haired, green-eyed girl. She was so sweet, but so fragile...  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Mai quietly. She took it upon herself to look after the others... Obviously Mai looked at herself as the leader. Murasaki and Keith knew that she was self-appointed, but didn't seem to really care. They only knew each other by chance- by luck.  
  
Seki shook her head vigorously.  
  
Mai kneeled down in front of the little girl. "Please, I want to know what's bothering you."  
  
She tried not to look into Mai's green eyes, but it was all too much...  
  
Seki broke down. All of this had kept piling up inside of her, and it hadn't had a chance to come out until now. "I just wanna be normal! I wanna have a home, a family...! I don't want to keep running, keep fighting, keep doing this to myself. It's..."  
  
"Seki..." began Keith. He didn't want to do any of this, either, but they had to. It was even worse to watch her cry like this. "You have to understand, we all want that, too. But we have a responsibility to take care of. And the fact is, we're NOT normal."  
  
"Yeah..." said Murasaki. "We're not normal, one-chan. But we're not the only ones out there who aren't normal... There's probably more people that we never imagined could be anything but human."  
  
"The only thing we can do is remember our cause and our reasons, the people we're fighting for," Mai said quietly. She stood back up and smiled. "We can hope that one day we can finally stop all this and live happy, peaceful lives. But until that day, we're gonna keep fighting, right? We're gonna look out for each other, and help all those other people who're like us. Right?"  
  
They nodded. Right. There was nothing better to do, after all. They still had a chance.  
  
For where there's a chance, there's hope. Where there's hope, there's love! And where there's love, there's life with victory in sight!!!  
  
Mai poked the rose into the grave's dirt and smiled slightly. These people would be gone forever, but as long as someone remembered them, they wouldn't really be dead... they'd just... have faded away. It wasn't until you were forgotten that you were dead in everyone else's eyes. Until that moment, there was still a chance that you could live on in someone's memories. That your stories could be passed down from generation to generation. Forever.  
  
The name on this particular tombstone was a familiar one.  
  
"Yoko Minobe  
  
May his legacy live on forever, though he did not."  
  
Dive. 


	21. Showdown Part I: One Last Time

Chapter XX: Showdown, Part I-One Last Time  
  
"What's done is done and we can't undo it."  
  
~Boss, from Hamtaro  
  
***  
  
"You know, why don't we just use the organoids to heal our Zoids?" said Bit. Silence followed as everyone stopped arguing with each other over nothing.  
  
"He has a point, unfortunately," said Hitoshi. "But there's also a fault to that point."  
  
"What?" asked Bit crankily.  
  
"Yeah, what?" said Jamie, also curious.  
  
"Our organoids," he continued, "Aren't all that tame, I guess you could say. As in, yeah, so they're ours and they can heal Zoids by fusing with them, but the organoids are already pretty banged up as it is and probably would be too stubborn to listen."  
  
"Which reminds me," mumbled Bit. "That Zoid that attacked us on our way here... Doc said it was being controlled by an organoid?"  
  
The three organoids (Twilight, Kurai, and Trinity) were also in the room. Trinity sweat-dropped and the other two looked at her.  
  
"That brings up the question of WHERE TRINITY WAS WHEN WE NEEDED HER," grumbled Ayumi loudly.  
  
"Ayumi?" said Eira. "I didn't even see you come in. I though Leena was-"  
  
Water dripped from Ayumi's hair as she squeezed it. "He he... yeah, she WAS chasing me." She grinned, daintily adjusting her hooped earrings. "Only, she thinks that I'm still taking refuge in the cockpit of my Zoid... stupid (expletive)."  
  
"AYUMI!!!" shouted Bit, Hitoshi, and Sylvia angrily. "DON'T SWEAR IN FRONT OF THE YOUNGER-"  
  
"Actually, Jamie and I are sixteen now," said Spring. "We can handle it."  
  
"But Eira's only-"  
  
"You wouldn't believe how much those idiots at school swear," muttered Eira. "...I'm used to it." (errr... of course she's gone to school before, but not anymore, I guess... seeing as she's supposed to be gone but wouldn't go away...)  
  
"Well..." muttered Bit, not defeated yet. "That still gives you no right to call Leena a (expletive)."  
  
Ayumi shrugged. "She's not in the room, that's good enough for me."  
  
***  
  
"You're really..." began Neos. He blinked (piku!). "...you know... Kitai?"  
  
"I think so..." mumbled Kylie. She sat down on the bed, wondering how she should explain this.  
  
"Oh, I get it," said Neos. He grinned. "Dang... it's so simple."  
  
"It is?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh. It confuses me."  
  
Neos shrugged "You're not confused very easily if you've been in a stasis pod three different times."  
  
"Wow... three...?" muttered Kylie. She was beginning to feel like... Nanase, again. Like she didn't belong anywhere, like she should run off and... and... do something brash. Find Harry or something. Blow up a big Backdraft Whale King... blow SOMETHING up...  
  
Hold up, she wasn't a pyromaniac!!! She was just really, really mad at the world. The worldS. However many there were out there. Kylie tried to calm down. It was useless. It was all just dang USELESS!!!  
  
Err... what was useless, exactly? "What am I doing, anyways?" Kylie asked herself.  
  
"Sitting here, trying to help me cope with my problem?" suggested Neos. "Not that I need any help, mind you."  
  
"Dang it, I..." muttered Kylie. "What am I doing here?!!"  
  
"You were being reunited with your brother (again)?"  
  
"No, no, I mean-why am I...?"  
  
"Because it's raining outside? 'Cause their arguing is getting a little annoying?"  
  
"No!" shouted Kylie, losing patience. "Why am I here, in this time, in this place? Why am I Kylie, and not... Kitai... or... Rukki..."  
  
He shrugged yet again. "Because you disappeared, and we couldn't find either you OR Evelyn."  
  
"I... what?"  
  
***  
  
Kokoro had managed to find what she had been looking for: a kitchen. People needed to eat, so of course there was a kitchen... She stopped rummaging through the cupboards. Yeah, people needed to eat... and she didn't... That is, she COULD eat, but she didn't... need... to...? What? She shrugged. What the heck, it didn't necessarily have to make sense, anyways.  
  
Finally, she found a tin of coffee beans, or whatever they were called. Now all she needed was-  
  
Kokoro dropped the tin. Its contents spilled out. She found herself staring pointlessly at the paper in front of her, lying on the counter. It was a map...  
  
A map of the Ultrasaurus? Its circuits, its weapons, its hangars, its Zoid Core... and an inventory of everything else on it. Zoids, ammunition, and... a shell... for the... Gravity Cannon... only one, though...  
  
Its Core... If they wanted to fix the Ultrasaurus, they'd have to fix its Core. That was why barely anything was working! Duh! Its Core had probably been damaged in the fight with the Deathstinger!  
  
To heck with the coffee, that could wait. This... couldn't.  
  
She looked around. There was a comlink next to the empty, not-cold refrigerator. She activated it.  
  
***  
  
"Mr. Sephiroth..." mumbled Robert.  
  
"Is this about Kokoro?" asked Sephiroth, looking up from working on the main controls. "Because-"  
  
"Kind of. But not this Kokoro," said Robert quietly. "We're brothers, aren't we?" he asked flatly.  
  
"Actually..." Sephiroth paused. "In a way, but... not really. I mean... We're not very much like each other. Maybe our family names are... close.... but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I knew your mom, but..."  
  
A comlink popped up to their side. It was Kokoro. "Is everything alright?" asked Robert, concerned.  
  
"Just peachy," said Kokoro quietly. "I found something... it looks like... a map, of the Ultrasaurus."  
  
"That would help," mumbled Sephiroth. "If we can read it..."  
  
Robert sighed. "I'm not that good with maps... considering that I didn't even get to middle school (technical geniuses shouldn't have to go through the stupidness of middle school)..."  
  
"I can read it," continued Kokoro. "There's a shell to the Gravity Cannon stored in one of the hangars... but-"  
  
Sephiroth, though better known as Adrian, interrupted her. "No worries," he said. "We might as well go make sure it's in good condition, right? If we use it and it blows up in the Cannon then we're all dead."  
  
"Yes," tried Kokoro, "But-"  
  
"Which hangar?" asked Robert. "This thing is so huge, it probably has at least twenty different ones... or ten... or something."  
  
"But we're going to have to fix the Ultrasaurus' Zoid Core," Kokoro finally managed to say. Sheesh... she thought.  
  
"What?!!!!!" they cried.  
  
"But a Zoid Core... is too COMPLICATED... it must be huge! How could we possibly do that with the time that we have left?!!" asked Sephiroth, trying to sort things out. "However much time we DO have until something else happens."  
  
"Kokoro..." began Robert. "I really hope that you don't know... I mean, it might involve... grueling hours of hard work... or... something... less... physical...?"  
  
*What is she doing? thought Taro, watching as the strange girl placed a hand over the controls to the hangar.  
  
She was like him, like his sister, and like all the other children the Backdraft had used to learn more about Zoids and organoids. But, in some way, different from all of them at the same time. As if she didn't really... exist. She was always so distant and alone-perhaps too far from the Backdraft's reach.  
  
Kokoro: mind; heart; soul. Why was she given a name that meant such things?*  
  
"Maybe I do... what would you think if I did? What if it was something drastic, that you wouldn't understand, that even I can't fully understand?"  
  
*And if she wasn't human, then how did she... errm... work? How did she think? How did she understand what others said and felt?  
  
Did she... have a Zoid Core?!!*  
  
He was silent for a moment, but finally answered. "...I guess... I'd have to trust you." That's what relationships were built on, right? Trust? You needed it if you wanted to get anywhere.  
  
"Do you trust me?"  
  
"... I could try..."  
  
Sephiroth watched, perplexed. Lori would have said that the two had "chemistry;" but though he wasn't sure what that meant, it was still fine with him. Kokoro wasn't really alive... so what? He didn't care and he was sure that Robert didn't, either. At least, not anymore.  
  
He slipped out the door behind them and out into the hall, slowly sliding down to the floor in a few moments. Which was worse... thinking or feeling? Thinking that you had deceived her, and the rest of them, or just... knowing that you had because you could feel it, no matter how much you knew that this was what you had to do?!! No matter how much you knew that this is wrong, but you have no choice?  
  
No matter how long it had been since you started this lie, and no matter how many people believed it was the truth, you would have to keep going, no matter how much it hurt you and how much it would hurt the others when they found out.  
  
It wouldn't be long before the Ultrasaurus was fixed, and after that, after the many battles that would follow, he would finally get his chance to tell them what he knew and why he hadn't mentioned it before. The question was: in the end, would he tell them or not?  
  
Eventually Sylvia would want to know how, exactly, they had survived trying to stop Eira and why he had gone along with it at once without being chided in the least bit. She hadn't even wanted him to come, but he still had. So what had happened? If they had entered Shadow mode right before the explosion, then why had the Zaber Fang been destroyed? It hadn't even been equipped with Shadow mode! And why hadn't they needed to use that device thing that neutralized the Shadows and return to normal if it had been?  
  
Why did Sephiroth have the Gul Tiger when it was permanently fused with her own organoid?  
  
*Strange. You don't really care, and yet it seems to be hurting you?*  
  
"Evelyn; please go away." He cringed. So Evelyn knew. These days, it seemed that she knew too much. Everyone knew too much. It wasn't her fault; that was just the way Evelyn was. It was sort of her job at the moment. But he still hated it.  
  
"Sephiroth," began Evelyn, this time out loud as she approached him from down the hall, "How many more people will you kill just to keep it a secret?"  
  
Sephiroth pulled himself up. "You know that I have to. For Zi's sake, right? To stop him?"  
  
The young girl nodded, looking up at him. "Yeah, for Zi... but still..."  
  
"What are you trying to say?"  
  
"What if it got so huge of a problem that you would have to kill your friends just to save Zi?"  
  
Sephiroth stared at the little girl. Why the heck was she asking this? Of course he would never kill his friends! Why? "Evelyn... You know, I don't really have any friends."  
  
She hardly looked convinced, turning her head away for him. "Now you don't have any friends? So why did you try to save Leena and Bit from Eira's Zoid; and why are you trying to fix the Ultrasaurus now?"  
  
"They're Chosen, Evelyn! I couldn't let them die without a fight, before they even knew about their fates! I don't want Zi to be destroyed!"  
  
"And why not?" Evelyn seemed to smile, seeing that she was beginning to get her point across.  
  
"Because... I guess... If Zi goes, then I go too, right?"  
  
"So why don't you just go back to Earth?"  
  
"Don't tempt me," he joked. "I didn't originally come from there! I lived here, on Zi. And besides, Earth is just as barren as this place or even more so. All its natural resources are used up."  
  
"You know that second part's not true, Mr. Sephiroth."  
  
"If you know my name, then why do you keep calling me that?"  
  
She grinned, disappearing once again. *Well... I can't let you die without a fight, can I?*  
  
*I'm not gonna die, not quite yet. I won't give up without a fight.*  
  
***  
  
Leena glared up at the green Liger Zero X. Ooh! How she hated its guts! Well, she actually hated Ayumi's guts more, of course, but she was in it. The girl smiled to herself. She wouldn't be able to hold out in that stuffy thing forever! HAHAHA!!!  
  
Leena was getting a little bit too wet. She didn't really like that. It was making her want to go inside, but if she did, then Ayumi would get away!  
  
"You're... waiting for someone?"  
  
"Eep!" cried Leena, surprised as she whirled around to see who it was.  
  
That girl again...  
  
"Are you waiting for someone?" repeated Evelyn, cocking her head and staring at Leena.  
  
"Who on Zi are you?" asked Leena, not bothering to answer the question quite yet. "And what were you doing back there, you know, with Robert and-" She stopped, realizing her mistake. "Wait, no, don't answer that. I'm waiting for Ayumi to come out of the cockpit of her Zoid."  
  
"Ayuimi? Ayumi's not in that Zoid."  
  
"What?" asked Leena, perplexed. "Dang... it's so dark. I can't tell. Where's the ZBC been, anyways..." she thought out loud.  
  
"They're coming, but they can't find you right away because of all this rain. You're friend, Brad, never sent the coordinates... he must have forgotten..."  
  
"How do you know all this?"  
  
"I just do. I'm me; that's what happens... I just know."  
  
Leena turned back to look at the Zoid. "Well, then... Can you tell me, is something wrong with Bit and his sister?"  
  
"...sister? What sister?"  
  
"What sister?!!" cried Leena. "Kylie! Kylie Maria Cloud! ...Right? I mean, who else could I be talking about...?"  
  
"Kitai, maybe, but she's not related to the honorable Cloud family."  
  
"Do you mean to tell me that-I don't know anyone named Kitai. Neither does Bit. But Harry... He was saying something about a girl named Kitai over the comlink..." Leena watched the small girl, perplexed, as Evelyn grinned and said, "Exactly."  
  
With an increasingly mysterious smile, Evelyn winked and waved goodbye.  
  
"Wait!" shouted Leena. "I-what am I supposed to tell Bit? Nothing? I can't let him hold on to false hopes and dreams!!!"  
  
"You let Harry." With that she disappeared into the dark night. Leena couldn't tell whether she had just disappeared, or if she had simply made it LOOK that way. The rain was pouring down hard; it was impossible to tell. She turned back to the Liger Zero X and sighed. These days were so rushed... she could never find herself understanding things, or believing the things she actually understood.  
  
What was with this Evelyn kid? Did she have any parents, or what? What was she trying to do, anyways? Teach Leena a lesson? She certainly didn't need any more lessons... She'd learned a lot in the past few years, more than she had originally intended. So why did she have to keep learning even more?  
  
***  
  
(this is where we left off after the six pages;)  
  
*"Yoko!" shouted Lori Flyheight from her blue Shield Liger. "What the heck were you doing? You knew that Zoid was dangerous...!"  
  
Yoko glared, still inside the Orudios. "Yeah..." he mumbled, looking away. All he wanted to do now was go home and find out what really happened to their parents all those years ago.  
  
"Kitai, Neos-" continued Lori. "Zoids Eve... What do I do?!! I mean, I... he's stuck inside the dang Zoid's cockpit! What the heck am I supposed to do about it? I know I have to get my little brother out, only... how?!!"  
  
Kitai raised an eyebrow. Lori didn't swear very often, even with the more... soft words, only when she was really frustrated. But she was right. The Orudios wasn't doing anything, Yoko was just... stuck. If they fired they'd make the organoid mad, and it'd probably do something drastic. But in the mean time, what WERE they supposed to do? She hadn't really thought about that yet. It had just seemed that being stuck in someone else's Zoid wasn't very safe.  
  
Neos grinned, just a little bit. It served Yoko right, messing around in his Zoid! HA! So there!  
  
Normally calm Lori saw this out of the corner of her eye and glared at him. Neos stepped back hurriedly. "Maybe we should find the others?" he suggested nervously.  
  
She shook her head. "That wouldn't work. They still don't trust Zoids, or Zoidians, or anything. This would just make them have an even better reason to hate them, right?"  
  
"No, I mean other Zoidians."  
  
"Even worse, they'll think humans are idiots."  
  
"They already do..."  
  
"Hey!" shouted Lori.  
  
Yoko sighed. At this rate he'd be in there for the rest of his life, or at least until the organoid got bored.  
  
"Rrr."  
  
"Evelyn?" asked Yoko quietly. He smiled. Of course it would be Evelyn, Evelyn with her little golden organoid. Well, it was just as big as the rest of them, but compared to the Zoid he was in, Rukki was very small.  
  
"I think I need to calm down a bit," said Lori, trying to not hyperventilate. "Hai... I don't think we've met... Evelyn, is it?" she asked.  
  
"..." The little girl who now stood by Neos and Kitai (who both backed up in surprise) didn't respond at first. She stared up at the winged Zoid. "...what happened...?" she said softly.  
  
Yoko smiled (?).  
  
The golden organoid turned its head to look back at Kitai. She smiled nervously and gave a little wave. It turned back to its master..  
  
"I don't think this is going to go over very well with Kaiser," mumbled Neos.  
  
"Kaiser?" asked Kitai.  
  
"Oh, he he, nothing!" He sweat-dropped.  
  
This caught Evelyn's attention. "Kaiser...?" she asked. "...you mean..."  
  
Their conversation was cut short as the Orudios finally stirred. "...Rukki...?" mumbled Evelyn. "...help Lori..."  
  
She looked quizzical for a moment, but obeyed at last, fusing with the Shield Liger.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Yoko. "Are you... gonna fight this thing? It hasn't even fired! How do you know that it's even going to hurt anyone, much less me?"  
  
"I do. I... just... do..."  
  
Neos and Kitai stared. "Dang," said Neos. "Just don't total it! Please! Mai'll KILL me if she finds out I've wrecked another Zoid-! Oh, yeah." He grinned again. "I forgot, didn't I?"  
  
"Err..." began Kitai. "Now would be the time that the poor, defenseless young children move out of the way before a fight starts."  
  
"...maybe..." said Evelyn. "...goodbye, then..."  
  
"Evelyn!" shouted Yoko. "You don't need to do anything. Just leave it to Lori!"  
  
"Yoko, you are SO going to get it when I'm through with this thing..." said Lori angrily.  
  
"Okay! Okay! DON'T leave it to Lori!!!! Please already!!!"  
  
Lori smiled, cocking her head. "Aww... is li'l Yoko scared that his big sissy's gonna do something DRASTIC?!! Well, GOOD!!! 'Cause I'm fed up with the way you've been acting the past few years! Think you're the only one who got hurt when Mom 'n' Dad's ship disappeared?!!"*  
  
"I didn't..." Yoko cringed, staring out at the sea from just outside the Sandstorm Unit's hangar. "What happened to you that day?" he asked quietly. He'd never seen Lori like that before. It had been so strange...  
  
But then again, if it had never happened, this wouldn't have. He grinned. Sometimes you just had to make sacrifices, no matter how much it hurt, to get something... new. Something indestructible. Something you'd been looking for for as long as you could remember, even if you didn't no why or what it was. Something to end all of your misery, even if it meant you had to end so many other people's lives!  
  
It wouldn't be long now! The Deathstinger-FINALLY! How long it had been.  
  
How much he knew now.  
  
About Zi, about Zoids, about... Evelyn...  
  
Back then he never would have guessed it. Back then he hadn't even known what Zoids Eve was, the thing the Zoidians kept referring to. But there was much more to that statue then even THEY knew. And this was what HE knew.  
  
Along with one other person.  
  
Evelyn didn't even know, as powerful as she was, but still ignorant of what she and the others could do.  
  
And if he could get her to combine her powers with theirs, they'd be invincible!!!  
  
"Zoids Eve-you're crazy. You're not supposed to be evil, so stop it! And stop using my name, too! You're putting it to shame! Do you know how annoying that is, Yoko? Just because you hate Zi this much doesn't mean you need to destroy it. Besides, if you destroy it, you're also destroying her as well..."  
  
***  
  
"Have you seen Sephiroth?" asked Robert, walking down a hallway with Kokoro as she tried to make sense of the map.  
  
"No," she said. "Wasn't he with you? We need him to help fix the..."  
  
They stopped and stared at the girl who was standing in front of them (not again...). She stared back.  
  
"....you don't need him to fix this Zoid..." she said softly. "...Sephiroth's knowledge comes from experience, but yours is simply talent..."  
  
"Oh?" asked Kokoro. "It's you again! That girl from... before!"  
  
Evelyn smiled. "...yes... I see you didn't need my help after all..."  
  
"What are you?" asked Robert.  
  
"...you've already asked that question."  
  
*"I understand now," mumbled Kokoro. "Mr. Altiel. You want me to..."  
  
"Cut the talk and do it."  
  
She nodded. "Right!"  
  
"Kokoro!" shouted Dr. Scott. He knew that she wasn't supposed to resist an order. He had made her that way, after all. But now...  
  
She turned and stared at Dr. Scott, trying to analyze his speech into something she could recognize more easily. "What is it? Why don't you want me to get into the Whale King's controls and... fix it?"  
  
"What?" asked Dr. Scott. "No. That's not his intentions."  
  
Kokoro cocked her head in confusion. "Then what does he want me to do?" she asked quietly.  
  
"You DID install a combat system into her, didn't you?" asked Altiel with a disappointed look.  
  
His brother shrugged, smiling a bit. "Oh, was I supposed to?" he asked cheekily.  
  
"Combat System?" asked Kokoro.  
  
He was bluffing, and very badly. Not a good idea.*  
  
"Combat System?" asked Kokoro, out loud. "What's a Combat System? And why should I have one?"  
  
Robert sweat-dropped. "What?"  
  
"Z-Zoids Eve, now I understand. Everything."  
  
"Koko??!!!"  
  
***  
  
Sephiroth glared at the man in front of him, who turned around hesitantly.  
  
"Oh... it's just you," said Yoko. "I thought..."  
  
"JUST me?" asked Sephiroth. "You're being very stupid, you know that? You know how much you owe me."  
  
"Oh? Were we gambling?"  
  
"It's not as funny as you think. Give up your frikkin Deathstinger before it becomes too much to handle."  
  
"..." Yoko didn't answer. He wasn't trying to be funny, exactly. He just didn't understand Sephiroth's way of thinking. Why should he owe Sephiroth anything?  
  
"Do I have to force you?" asked Sephiroth. "I didn't come all the way over here in record time for nothing."  
  
"Since when did you care what I've been doing?" asked Yoko cautiously.  
  
"You've been calling yourself the Kaiser Kage, right?" asked Sephiroth. "You're killing my good reputation."  
  
Yoko grinned. "Reputation? People don't even know you exist! So why should you have a good reputation?!!"  
  
Sephiroth glared. "You're more ignorant than I had thought."  
  
"So many years wasted on trying to help Zi, and now your help has been made worthless?" taunted Yoko.  
  
"There are people who care about me, whether they know the real me or not," mumbled Sephiroth. "I'm not going to let you change that."  
  
"Oh, really..."  
  
"Oh, Yoko!" called a musical voice. He sighed. "Zoids Eve, not her AGAIN..."  
  
Sephiroth tried to suppress a grin. "Ha. What a pathetic life you lead, Mr. Flyheight. If Van knew you were related to him he'd probably have committed hari-kari instead of falling to Neos' anger."  
  
"What a shame he didn't..." mumbled Yoko.  
  
"Yoko? Who's this?" asked Sayo sweetly. "I don't think we've met before," she added quietly, studying this newcomer.  
  
"You see my point..." mumbled Yoko.  
  
"Sucks to be you," laughed Sephiroth.  
  
"What?!!" asked Sayo angrily. "Are you trying to give me a hint or something?!!"  
  
"Err, no!" said Sephiroth hurriedly, drawing back. "It's just... Yoko's third most ultimate goal is to kill all ten Chosen!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"And you're a Chosen, but you like him, so he finds it hard to kill you no matter how much he loathes you already!"  
  
"What?" asked Sayo with a strange look on her face. "Loathes me?"  
  
"Oh, he's just joking..." mumbled Yoko. "Zoids Eve..."  
  
"And of course, he can't love you back because he's already in love," said Sephiroth, enjoying this. He didn't really think that Sayo would be all that hurt. Emotionally. Yoko would be the one who was going to get hurt in the end. Physically.  
  
"With who...?"  
  
"Zoids Eve."  
  
"Stop saying hat and tell me, with who...?"  
  
"You heard me. Zoids Eve."  
  
"He's in love with... a statue?" asked Sayo quietly. "What?"  
  
"You WILL regret this, Sephiroth," said Yoko angrily. "I'm not in love with Eve anymore, or I wouldn't be trying to destroy it!!!"  
  
"Oh... so now she's an it?" asked Sephiroth. Sweet, sweet revenge.  
  
"In love with a STATUE?!!" repeated Sayo.  
  
"It's more than just a stupid statue..." muttered Yoko. "Zoids Eve is much more than that."  
  
"Considering that you just made that girl incredibly mad at you, now would be a good time for you to hand over the Deathstinger and quietly disappear," suggested Sephiroth. "Just like you did way back when."  
  
"I really, really hate you."  
  
**How many more people have to die before you'll give up?*  
  
"Ungh..." groaned Sephiroth Adrian Donovan, trying to get up. He was surprised to see the girl extend her hand, but refused to take it, pulling himself up. *As many as it takes. I'm not giving up now, not when I'm this close.*  
  
*....perhaps you should rethink your life...*  
  
*Who are you to tell me what to do?!!*  
  
*I've always said that I'm... just... me... Nothing more, nothing less.*  
  
*So I've heard.*  
  
He squinted at her. Somehow, no matter how long it had been, she kept showing up. She always looked the same. Not just her age, but those eyes were so empty, so lonely, as if part of her was missing. He had a small idea what that was from his previous experiences with her, but there was still one question on his mind. Answering this question could end their suffering, once and for all. At last the Zoidians could find their true purposes in life!!! "Are you..." he began, out loud for once. He didn't need to, most of the time, but some things were better said using the Zoidians' method. "Are you... Zoids... Eve...?"  
  
"..." It took her a moment to answer. "I told you, I'm ME, and that's all. Zoids Eve is a statue."  
  
"But are you PART of Zoids Eve?"  
  
Evelyn looked away, not answering. It went unsaid. They both knew the answer to that one. Words weren't necessary. Neither were thoughts.*  
  
"But you're right..." continued Adrian, now staring back at Sayo. "Zoids Eve IS more than just a statue. It's an... entity. At the moment most of its power is stored within the statue, but the real Zoids Eve represents both Zoidian and Zoid and organoid and humans..."  
  
"What?" asked Sayo, with a blank look on her face. "I don't follow."  
  
Neither paid her any mind. "I guess we should sort this out," suggested Yoko, "Once and for all, right?"  
  
"Right... once and for all. One last time. I WILL prove that you're not the real Kaiser, Yoko! And you know it! I'm gonna bring honor back to that name!"  
  
Yoko glared. "Oh, like I've dishonored the dang alias... More like I made it more powerful. Right, then! Name the time and place an' I'm there!"  
  
Sayo gaped at them.  
  
"Wait..." began Sephiroth.  
  
"What, backing down ALREADY?"  
  
"For one, this is an official-like duel, so if we're going to do it traditionally we need seconds, right? And two-is this going to be with Zoids... or not?"  
  
"Not," mumbled Yoko. "You shouldn't rely on those robots to do everything for you. As Shadows, so whoever loses will have to live with defeat forever. And no manmade weapons."  
  
Adrian nodded. Oh, this would be good...  
  
***  
  
(........................................................  
  
Yes, this was planned.... part of it.......................)  
  
"Tea?"  
  
Cid Marron was leaning against a wall of the Champ team base when Mary approached him with a tray. He moaned in annoyance, but accepted after some chiding. Just his luck. How long had it been? He was beginning to lose track of time and space.  
  
What difference would it make? He'd probably be stuck here forever, at least. Forever was a very long time... Maybe he could find some quick, painless way to rid himself of the hyperactive rich chick.  
  
Chick. That was true. She would probably be a lot more attractive if she wasn't so annoying, if you forget about that horrible sunhat and the fluffy dress. Ack!!! Enough with this!!!!!!!  
  
He shrugged. There must be something to do here, something to get his mind off of Mary's innocent charm that wasn't quite charming to many.  
  
He began to think. What was something that Mary had always really, really wanted? The one thing she had never been able to get?  
  
Cid sipped the tea carefully. Perhaps she wasn't quite so innocent. Maybe she slipped some arsenic in it. He smiled. That'd be the day! He wouldn't have to put up with this anymore! Wait, what am I thinking? he thought. I must be going crazy after all these years with the Backdraft!!! Hey, this tea is actually kind of good....  
  
He shook his head. NO! There was no way that he was going to give in to her horrible method of torture! NEVER!!! By the Liger Zero, he would NOT!  
  
Wait... Liger Zero?  
  
That was it!!! That was the answer!!!!!! Now....  
  
"Mr. Cid?" asked Mary quietly, looking at him strangely. "Are you okay? You haven't tried to get out for at least an hour."  
  
Well, that's an improvement... he thought. "Do you remember the Liger Zero?" Cid asked.  
  
He smiled at the surprised look on her face.  
  
***  
  
Errrmmmm..... yup. Duels are fun.  
  
Yup. Zoids Eve isn't just a statue (cringe. that was planned a long long time ago, but it was a little bit different).  
  
Oh, and yup... you guessed it... Kaiser was planned too, only, that was also a little bit different.  
  
Not much else to say, but did I mention anything about Pita-ten? I don't think I did! Huh!!! Pita-ten is AWESOME!!!!! It's soooo kawaii!!! I can't get enough of it!!!  
  
Actually, it's a manga by the character designer of Digi Chart, Koge Donbo. Zoids Eve, I love it so much... but it's not available in the US in English, and I don't know Japanese (wah!!!) so I read it online at studiorobb.com... Actually, I think I have mentioned this before, but I have a bad memory, so...  
  
Bai-bai... 


End file.
